Akuma no Ketsueki
by Rin-neechan
Summary: Naruto dawns on the reasons why he sheds the blood of others, and if it's really who he should be fighting for.
1. Battle Ground

Once a battlefield, now a graveyard of unburied corpses has stained the land outside the Fire Country with countless pints of blood and guts all splattered in vain. None of their deaths were worth it, but all of them willing to fight for someone who had committed crimes against Konoha Gakure No Sato. For his crimes, he was hunted, by a tool of the village he defiled. A man who never thought of himself as a tool, a man too young for so much bloodshed at his hand. A man with a bad enough repuation as it is, and the last thing he needed was to give more people a reason to fear and hate him.

_"Mission Successful." _Naruto thought as he looked at the people he had just killed, and was disappointed in himself for having to go through such heights just to kill one man. His hair, uniform and katana were soaked with blood, almost like it had just rained on him. Blood. Naruto defined it as an internal fluid, a necessity of life, and something he knew the smell, feel, taste, and look of better than he would like to. Even the sound of his katana cutting through flesh wasn't anything to him anymore. When Naruto had first become a ninja, he hadn't seen much bloodshed, but knew he would someday, but never thought he would get used to something so morbid. When Zabuza died, he bled a lot and part of why Naruto cried that day was because he was literally mortified by how much blood his sensei had to lose to fight someone who didn't really deserve to die anyway.

Being a Hunter Nin for the Anbu unit of Konoha wasn't something Naruto ever saw himself doing. It had given him something he always wanted from others, but not like this. He was given a nickname by the other ninja villages. But this nickname wasn't something Naruto was proud of. He was called Konoha no Akuma no Ketsueki. But he had enlisted for the wrong reason, which was why it hurt him so much to now have to acknowledge that he was covered in the blood of about thirty other people, instead of his own. Naruto would much rather lose his own blood than shed the blood of others. It was just his nature. However Naruto was finding himself almost comforted by the fact that he had done his duty, and these people deserved to die. But what Naruto hated the most was that Kyuubi was stirring in his stomache, almost as if telling him that he was disgusted for no reason, and that spilling the blood of others was something that he was born to do and couldn't stop doing now if he wanted to.

Naruto had never had this much of a problem with Kyuubi before, but since being a Hunter Nin required him to kill his prey, Kyuubi took this as an opportunity to satisfy the insane craving for death and bloodshed, and the fact that it was through Naruto made him literally sick.

Before he left this place Naruto had to dispose of the bodies one way or another. Frankly, he didn't want to touch them now that they were dead, but again, this was his duty. Naruto grabbed the bodies with Kyuubi's tails and piled them all up in a short, but fat hill of blood and dead flesh. Naruto then used Katon No Jutsu to light the stack of bodies on fire and watched them all burn, occasionally fueling the fire with chakra to make it burn faster. The smell of rotting corpse and burning flesh was enough to make him puke.

Once that task was finished, Naruto started walking away from the now burnt graveyard. When he noticed the smell of corpse was still potent in the air around him, he started running. Then sprinting before he leaped into the trees around him and started back for Konoha. On his way back, Naruto wondered about what he had thought earlier. About becoming an Anbu Hunter Nin for the wrong reason. He had done it for her. For his best friend that he made a promise to. A promise of a lifetime, he called it, but Naruto was wondering if maybe this was really worth saving someone who didn't want to be saved. For a chance to meet up with an A-rank criminal whom he promised he would bring back to the village. The person that haunted Naruto, and made his way of the ninja nothing but talk, that is until he fulfilled his promise.

As Naruto neared the village he stopped leaping through the trees and walked through Konoha's two large gates and prepared himself for the worst part of his job. Naruto stepped into the village and started to walk through the streets headed to Anbu Headquarters. As he walked, the people he passed looked at his blood soaked figure and backed away from him as if they were terrified. Naruto always knew the people of Konoha were somewhat afraid of his potential power because of Kyuubi, but before they hadn't shown that they were afraid, they showed hatred and disdain. But now the people couldn't even look at his eyes, and the few who did looked as if they were about to cry. As they cleared a path for Naruto, he shut his eyes to avoid seeing that look of shear terror in the eyes of the people he wanted to some day protect. How would these people except him as Hokage if they were afraid him?

Stepping into Anbu Headquarters, Naruto walked into the main office and pulled his bingo book out from a whole rack of bingo books and turned to page twenty-seven. He then crossed out the name of the person he was assigned to kill and wrote the number thirty next to the name on a small line, which indicated how many others he killed. Naruto placed a bookmark in that page and set it in a tray of bingo books that would be recorded at the end of the day, then the next morning Naruto would return and find his bingo book in the "out" rack, meaning whatever name was number twenty-eight would be his next victim.

Once Naruto had filed his report, he made his way to the locker rooms to shower. Once there, Naruto didn't feel so isolated. Just about everybody else there was covered in blood and tired to the bone. Naruto opened his locker, took off his armor, and placed his mask and katana inside and grabbed a towel and made his way to the showers. He took his black clothing off and rinsed them in a large sink to get most of the blood off of them before throwing them into a large bin of dirty uniforms that would be cleaned and ready for him tomorrow when he checked in for work.

Naruto stood there and let the hot water calm his muscles and his mind as well. For some reason, once Naruto was cleansed of all the blood of the days work, he always found it easier to think. So he took the opportunity as he rustled his blonde locks to get the remaining blood out of them, and his body was still eased by the hot water to think without being distracted by his sences.

Being a Hunter Nin was his own choice, but if it weren't for the promise he made to his best friend so long ago, he would've never even considered enlisting. She was heart broken because she was helpless to stop someone she cared for from betraying the village. Not because in that way she would never see him again, but because it was what had to be done to save him. When she had asked Naruto to bring him back, Naruto felt something in his heard shatter as well, as he knew her heart had already fallen to pieces. But he fought his hurt and forced himself to smile and promise her to bring him back. It was then Naruto realized that this girl would never see him as more than an idiot that was just more phyiscally capable than she was. Naruto wondered now why he still cared. She had made him a promise that she never fulfilled. She promised that they would do it together. And what was she doing now? She was a medical ninja, always cooped up in the hospital and hasn't seen a battlefield or a mission in years. She was safe and sound, while he was risking his life for a promise he made to her, when she hadn't upheld hers.

Hell, did she even know he was a Hunter Nin? Naruto never returned with injuries bad enough to send him to the hospital, besides, the Anbu Headquarters was stationed with it's own unit of medics anyways, so if Naruto did return injured, they would take care of it. The hospital asked too many questions, that the Hunter Nin were forbidden to answer due to the secrecy of their missions. So they had to have their on medics take care of their ninja. Naruto then wondered what he would do if he did find that person, or was sent to kill him someday. He would be torn between doing his duty on the spot and killing him then and there, or keeping a promise to friend who didn't appreciate him and bringing him back to the village, and letting the counsil decide what to do with him.

Naruto then wondered about his other teammate, or his sensei, Hatake Kakashi. What kind of missions was he getting? Had he been assigned to another team? Or were his missions strictly solo? Kakashi was one of the village's greatest Jounin and was probably getting the most difficult missions, but knowing him, he was probably easily completing them. Kakashi however concerned him, much more than the other two people he had been thinking of, because he had never done anything to make Naruto believe that he was unappreciative of what he had always tried to do and was probably the only person who still had any confidence in him. In fact, he always did. Naruto remembered the first real lesson that Kakashi had ever taught him. That ninja always look underneath the underneath.

Naruto stepped out of the shower and toweled himself off and wrapped a clean towel around his waist and headed back for his locker. He pulled out his Jounin uniform and put it on. Then took out his katana and started to clean it with the towel that was around his waist earlier. He soaked the towel in water and lightly started to wash the blood stains off, then dried and waxed it clean. Then did the same for his armor and mask. The whole time thinking about what was level in this situation. What was level was always what was easy to see. What it was, was that Naruto was an Anbu Hunter Nin, who was mortified by his job. Who killed because it was his duty to kill. But didn't want to kill anyone, day after day and somehow managed to do it anyway. That was the given, or the level of this problem. The thing that any other ninja could see if they looked at Naruto, or knew him.

Now what was underneath that? Why did he continue to kill people even though he hated it? The promise he had made, was his escape. The fact that Naruto had only done this for an opportunity to fulfill his promise to his other friend. But his friend had broken her promise to him, and was doing nothing to keep her word, as he was giving all he had to making her happy. Why was he trying to keep a promise to somebody who was trash? Trash for betraying him, and that was a bad as trash could get. She had betrayed his feelings for her when they were younger and now her promise to help him fulfill his promise to her, by doing it together.

_"Those who break the rules are called trash, but those who betray their friends are even worse trash." _That was it. That was underneath the underneath. Naruto was trying to uphold to the second lesson he learned as a ninja, but then again he was trying not to betray the wrong people. Knowing who your friends were was the first step to avoid betraying them. Here he was trying to uphold his word and way of the ninja to people who had first betrayed him, by trying to kill him and breaking their own word, when what he should be doing is protecting those who had always been at his side.

Kakashi had come to bring Naruto back to the village for medical attention when he was injured in The Valley of End long ago. Chouji had killed the person who insulted and tried to kill his best friend and nearly died himself. Neji had shown respect to Naruto and acknowledged his ability to see things that even his Byakugan couldn't see in a person, things you shouldn't need doujutsu to see were the things he was missing and had confidence that Naruto would save the person they were after, because Naruto had saved him. Kiba had decided to run from his opponent then to save the life of his best friend who had been wounded to save him. And Shikamaru stayed behind to distract someone while Naruto went on to catch who they were ultimately after.

These were the people Naruto should be fighting for, and risking his life for, because they were worth it. They were his friends, they were the people that hadn't betrayed him. He was a Hunter Nin for the wrong reason, because the people he was trying to not betray, had already betrayed him, and he could no longer call them friends. Of course betraying others, friends or not, wasn't a noble thing to do, but setting your priorities straight was what Naruto had to do. Until his "friends" woke up from their own selfishness, there was nothing he could do for them.

Naruto then got up and walked into the main office again and pulled a form out from a pile in a drawer, and started to fill it out. Once it was complete he left Anbu Headquarters. The form he had filled out needed to be turned into the Hokage's Office personally. While on his way there, Naruto couldn't help but smile the way he always did. With his eyes squinted shut and his teeth showing. For some reason he felt better than he had in years. Probably because for the first time in a long time, he was doing something because he understood the truth behind his motivations. He walked into the Hokage's Office and continued to smile as this familar place made him feel more content.

As he approached the desk were Godaime Hokage was filling out paper work, and looking rather bored, she looked up and gave him a sad look, until she scanned his body. He was wearing his Jounin uniform and not an Anbu uniform, he was smiling and had a paper in his hand, and she desperately wished it was what she thought it was. Naruto handed it to her without a word and left the office, waving as he did.

Tsunade smiled at Naruto as he left sight and looked at the paper he had handed her and found herself more proud of him then she ever had been. She then opened a file specifically for him and placed the paper inside and then pulled out another paper and added the name "Uzumaki Naruto" under the name "Hatake Kakashi" and ordered another ninja in the room to make changes on ninja registration. She had added his name to team Kakashi, which still had two open slots, but for now, everything was how it should be.


	2. Familiar Ground

Krow, this is for you. Next chapter is in the workings, and things will heat up more then. This one is just supposed to emphasize how uncomfortable Naruto feels when he is now thrown back into a "normal life". He's forced to go home, interact with old friends and cope with the villagers again. The next will be how he handles being a man on a mission, instead of a hunter. Hence the name of the chapters deal with where he stands, Familiar ground, battle ground, etc. I hope you enjoy! Chapter 3 will be up in a more timely manner. If you catch anymore spelling errors, shout me on it!

Naruto walked out of the Hokage's office still feeling good about himself, but his fatigue started to kick back in. He hadn't realized how tired he was since he got out of the shower back at Anbu headquarters. After stretching his arms over his head, he started back for his apartment, to hopefully sleep peacefully for the first time since his first mission as an Anbu Hunter Nin.

Once he got home, he took off his Jounin jacket and shoes, and went into his bathroom to clean himself up a bit better. He splashed some water on his face, and brushed his teeth. He thought about eating something, but it was too late, and he would always feel sick if he laid down right after eating, while his stomache was still full. For some reason, Naruto didn't feel as tired now that he was actually home. There were times when Naruto wouldn't come back here for months, since he was constantly on missions for Anbu and they need their missions done promptly. The only reason he would've gotten time to come home tonight, had he not resigned, was because it was too late for anymore missions to be assigned. If it were two hours earlier, Naruto wouldn't have even been given time to shower, his mission would've been assigned immediately following the filing of his report. There were times Naruto was sent on a mission to find someone and was given no useful information about them. Sometimes his only information was the crime that they committed. No name, no village, no picture or description, no nothing. While on these missions, the first place Naruto would go to was SunaGakure No Sato, since they were Konoha's closest allies. If there was information regarding this crime there, Kankurou would tell him about it.

Naruto decided to try and stop thinking about his Anbu assignments and start thinking about what he had just done. He always felt obligated to help those who were important to him, but in this case, finding out that his important friends were actually the ones he wasn't helping and fighting for was almost a slap in the face that Naruto had been needing for years. What had made him come to that conclusion all of a sudden? Naruto didn't need to think about that too much. It was probably because of tonight's mission. He only needed to kill one man, but ended up killing at least thirty others who were willing to protect him. This made Naruto think about others he had met when he was younger.

Haku had been Zabuza's "tool" since he was a young boy, and even though he still died young, what made him so eager to protect Zabuza was the fact that he had nobody else. Nobody accepted him for the person he was, then suddenly someone comes along, knowing exactly who he was, and wanted that instead of hating it. It's seeing a different reaction from people, and being needed. Haku must've known that the things Zabuza was having him do were wrong. Why did he keep doing them? Haku had told Naruto all about everything in his heart before he died for Zabuza, but he didn't think that it was the same with the men he killed tonight.

Naruto then thought about a similar situation. Kimimaro. Gejimayu told Naruto while he was in the hospital years ago that the man who could attack with his bones was Orochimaru's subordinate who was more than willing to die for him. Naruto couldn't think of anyone in the world with worse intentions than Orochimaru. But then, the situation was almost exactly the same. Kimimaro never had anybody, and even his own clan was afraid of his power. It seems that when people are lonely that they would do anything to keep the people that do seem to care around them. The situations were only different because Zabuza did care for Haku, and Orochimaru replaced Kimimaro with the "new dream container" as Kimimaro put it.

His earlier mission was probably nothing compared to either of these situations. The thirty other men that he killed tonight were probably just getting paid. As it were hundreds of times before when Naruto had to kill others to get to his target. But at least that was over now. It was a shame that things had to turn out like that, but for now, Naruto was sure that things would get better. Now, he just wanted to sleep and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.

Next Morning...

Naruto didn't sleep much at all. It was really awkward for him, being home for a whole night. He only got the little sleep he did get because of his fatigue. Naruto got up and decided he wasn't getting anymore sleep, since it was five in the morning, and got dressed, ate and took care of himself a little before looking around his apartment. He had a few hours until he had to check in for missions, so why not clean up his little apartment?

It was actually more dusty, than dirty. Since he was never here to clean up much. Seeing all his things covered with layers of dust upset him a bit, and as he wiped them off and put them back where they belong, he couldn't help but notice that it didn't make much of a difference, or make him feel any better. Naruto found things he didn't even know he had anymore. He found a tutorial scroll on the Bunshin no Jutsu. To think he once needed a tutorial for that, or even needed two hands for Rasengan. Naruto had much better chakra control now and could create thousands of Kage Bunshin, let alone regular Bunshin, and could use Rasengan with one hand.

He found his old goggles that he wore before he got his hitae-ate, and HIS hitae-ate. Naruto looked at it once and put it away in a drawer so he wouldn't have to see it. That's the last person he wanted to think about now.

It was close to the time he had to check in, so Naruto put his shuriken pouch on his leg, and went through what was in his beige pouch quickly. A few explosive tags, about six kunai, a few scrolls, and an ointment. Hinata's ointment. He opened it and saw that it was close to empty, he did have it for at least four years, but it worked well, so he kept it on him. After checking his equipment, he headed out the door.

For some reason, Naruto felt better once he left his house. Damn it, why did it feel more like home, when he wasn't home? He had spent too much time out of the village and away from home, but it wasn't like he could just get time off to get used to things again. Naruto noticed people starring at him and whispering to others as he walked by, and somehow, felt like a lonely little kid all over again. The little kid who hated everybody because he was alone and nobody cared about him, was gone now, but Naruto felt like he was alone all over again. He used to look to four people for comfort and he didn't care to see two of them anymore, Kakashi-sensei was probably busy with missions and Naruto had heard sometime ago that during the crisis in Konoha, Iruka-sensei had to be recruited out of teaching to do missionsand was probably busy as well. It didn't seem like anybody was around for him anymore and it hardly seemed fair, but then again, life wasn't fair.

Once Naruto got to the Hokage's office he felt a bit better. He saw many familiar faces who were smiling and greeting him, even people he didn't know well were greeting him even if it was just a 'hello'. Naruto waited like the rest to be assigned and when it was his turn, Tsunade smiled at him too.

"Naruto as for you, I have reassigned you back to Kakashi's team, but he's currently on his own mission. So until he returns, I'll have you serving as a backup for teams that have members injured or who need extras for certain missions." Tsunade said, so Naruto wouldn't be confused by his new duties, but anything was better than Anbu.

"Ossu." What else was there to say?

"Your first mission, however, is an exception. I have hand picked several other Jounin who's skills are needed for this type of mission and assembled all of them into a temporary team that, for the time being, you are a part of. Your skills that I have recognized which are necessary for this mission is your ability to inflict a large amount of damage to your enemy quickly under given circumstances using a small amount of chakra. Your other teammates have abilities such as, speed, medic ninjutsu and doujutsu. And I will explain your mission when they arrive."

"Doujutsu? Neji or Hinata?"

"Nothing gets past you anymore. This time, Neji will be on your team and Shizune will be your medic."

Naruto nodded and walked off to wait for his team to arrive in the Jounin area. Naruto was half pleased to find nobody else there, but half disappointed. He sat down on the couch there and started to think. He had been doing a lot of this lately.

Neji. Naruto didn't know if he was ready to face his friends again, and Neji was probably the one he knew the least about. They were friends, and they had enormous respect for each other, but Naruto didn't even feel like he was home earlier this morning, how could he be comfortable around a friend like Neji so soon? And it's not like Neji is an idiot who Naruto can lie to. Neji would see right through anything Naruto told him, and didn't even need Byakugan to do it with, which was how he so easily was able to tell what Hinata was thinking in the Chuunin Exam prelims. Naruto guessed the only thing he could do is only say what's on his mind.

Shizune-neechan. Naruto grabbed his necklace from under his shirt and looked at it. He remembered how scared Shizune-neechan was when Tsunade no Baachan wagered it on the bet, then when he actually won. However, she was always around. Sure she followed Tsunade no Baachan like a shadow, and at times Anbu did have to report to the Hokage personally, so he saw her the most out of everybody. She tended to make big deals out of little things and goes crazy over silly reasons, but that was just one of the quirky things about her that you just had to look past or get used to. She only did it because she cared.

_"At least she's better than having to face Sakura."_ Naruto thought. Right after thinking that, Naruto blinked. All this time, and he hadn't been calling her by her name. Just 'Her' or 'that person'. Why? And just now, he didn't even call her Sakura-chan like he always used to. It must've been longer than he thought. He was falling out of his usual habits because he never saw her. His life had turned and was just now getting back on the right path. It probably would take some time to get used to things again. Probably why he felt so awkward when he was at home. He hadn't been home for a full night in months, because he would always just take an hour nap at Anbu Headquarters, in one of the rooms they provided for captured criminals.

"Naruto-san, Hokage-sama wants to brief you on your mission details now." A messenger said firmly.

"I'm coming." Naruto said as he got up and went back the Hokage's office.

Naruto stood by the closed door leading back to the Hokage's office and heard Tsunade speak before he walked in.

"Neji, Shizune, Arate. I thought you should all know. Last night, Uzumaki Naruto resigned from Anbu and will be your fourth teammate." Tsunade said not expecting what was coming next from Shizune.

"NARUTO-KUN! He resigned! Why, Tsunade-sama!"

"Shizune, quiet. He didn't say why. He returned from his last mission for the night then brought me a completed form of resign. Neji, since you are the leader of this team, do you have any objections to Naruto joining you?"

"Better him than anyone else." Neji said blunty as the kid next to him took his hand off his mouth.

"Hokage-sama! Are we talking about _The _Uzumaki Naruto!"

"Do you know any other Naruto?" Neji said almost like he was insulting the new kid.

"No, but, I mean, I'm going to work with Konoha no Akuma no Ketsueki! Do any of you know how awesome that is?"

Hearing his nickname disgusted Naruto. He hated when his enemies would use it, and look at him like everybody in the village did last night. It was at those times, when Naruto didn't want to kill anything. When they would look at him like they were afraid for their lives because they were fighting a Jinchuuriki. Those were the missions that hurt him the most to complete, but somehow, he found it in him to complete them.

"Naruto is Naruto. Don't call him by his nickname. He's your equal as a Konoha Shinobi, so treat him like one." Neji said out of nowhere, which startled Naruto. Naruto had always been treated like he was less than human by the people of his village, but now that he was recognized by something he wasn't proud of, he wanted people to forget about it. Now that was happening. Neji had just told that new kid to treat him like everybody else. Regardless of what Naruto did for the village they started treating him better, but not as equals. And now the attention he was getting wasn't what he wanted, and now at least somebody was encouraging others to treat him fairly. This thought made Naruto feel better about having to work with Neji, so he opened the door and managed to smile the way he used to.

"Naruto-san, I'm Fushidara Arate. I don't believe we've met. May I shake your hand?" The new kid said politely.

"No we haven't. Nice to meet you, glad to be working with you." Naruto said as he reached out for Arate's hand. Arate grabbed his hand with both of his and shook it eagerly, but not roughly.

"Me too. Wait until I tell my friends, they'll freak!" Arate said cheerfully, as he shook Naruto's hand. Naruto started to wonder if Arate even knew where his nickname came from.

All Naruto could do is pull his hand out of Arate's grasp. Neji looked at Naruto with a dead serious look, Shizune hung her head and Tsunade cleared her throat to get their attention.

"The four of you," That snapped them out of their 'moment'. "as for your mission. Several days ago I was going through some old files that Sandaime never got around to organizing, and found some interesting information that doesn't piece together that is worth investigating. About four years ago, after Gekkou Hayate's death, the Konoha ninja concluded that Sunagakure and Otogakure were working together and planning to attack Konoha during the Chuunin Exam that was taking place at the time. Naruto, Neji, the same exam that the two of you participated in. Sandaime sent a unit of ninja to send a message of possible attack to the Tsuchikage and request assistance from them. Tsuchigakure and Konohagakure were old enemies, but our differences were settled when Sandaime Hokageand Sandaime Tsuchikage signed a peace treaty, ending the third ninja war. However, before those three ninja reached their destination, the village was attacked and they were called back. It was in the records of that mission that one ninja decided to stay behind and continue with delivering the message. That ninja never returned to Konoha. Several days after the attack, the council received a message from Tsuchigakure saying that once he entered the village, he was killed by one of their Anbu by mistake. They said that the wound was a poisoned senbon to the upper thigh. The reason this is worth investigating is because the Tsuchigakure Ninja don't specialize with senbon. Their aim is using katanas and hidden weapons throughout their uniforms. Tsuchigakure Ninja are almost never seen carrying senbon and they don't use poison much either. They know vital points on the body, but they take being Tsuchigakure Ninja as a sign that means they kill their enemies by force, like a rock. They don't use weapons like poison and senbon that either don't kill you instantly or have low fatality rate. It seems like this was all a setup." Tsunade explained to them.

"What would be the purpose of faking the death of one of our ninja? What would that accomplish? And what have they done with our ninja?" Arate asked apparently trying to sound intelligent, because Neji noted to himself, answering those questions was the purpose of their mission. So he asked a more valid question.

"I assume that in their message back, they said nothing about helping us prepare for attack or to repair the village, since we didn't receive any reinforcements from them."

"I found the message and had it re-decoded, and no. They pretended like they never read our message." Tsunade saidconfirming Neji's suspicion.

"Being that their message came AFTER the attack from Suna and Oto, that could mean that they knew about the attack. They could've been working with them to keep us unaware of Orochimaru's ties into Sunagakure and Otogakure. This ninja could've been working with them as a spy. But it's just as likely that he could've been killed to keep him from relaying his findings back to Konoha. Have his records been researched?" Being Anbu for so long and being around Kakashi-sensei taught Naruto how to look at a situation and find every possible outcome or enemy motivation. Ero-Sennin called it analyzation skills. Tsunade nodded her head, almost agreeing with everything Naruto said.

"I did look up his records and the records of two generations down. His name is Hangyakusha Uragiri. His great grandfather was a merchant from Tsuchigakure. Anyway, the reason I found this worth investigating is because since that attack, one of our Anbu members got a hold of a bingo book from an Anbu from Tsuchigakure. After looking through it, it seems that Uragiri's teammates for that mission were added, and never pursued. This could mean that they are trying to keep us unaware that Uragiri is possibly alive or that there's something they don't want us to know. Neji, you will be the leader of this team since your Byakugan can be used to pinpoint the location of ambushes from large distances. Team Neji, your mission is find Hangyakusha Uragiri and interrogate him on site. Get whatever information you can about what Tsuchigakure was planning by faking his death. If you find him dead, then find out what you can about those connected to him in Tsuchigakure and get the information out of them. And by the waythis mission, you are not to be seen by any Tsuchigakure Ninja, or they will accuse Konoha of spying. If you are seen by any Tsuchigakure Ninja, kill them and dispose of the bodies immediately."

"OSSU!" All of them said at the same time as they bowed their head and left the office.

Tsunade didn't know if an interrogating mission was best for Naruto right now, but she didn't think it was something he couldn't handle. Besides this mission needed someone like him who could eliminate an enemy quickly and painlessly. She stationed Shizune there for Neji and Arate's sake, but she knew that Naruto could heal himself instantly. There was nothing to worry about. With Naruto's abundant stamina, chakra and power, Neji's doujutsu, insight and overall skill, Arate's speed and agility, and Shizune's medical jutsu and skill at gathering information and resources, this mission was a guaranteed success.

Once outside of the office, the team agreed, after gathering necessary things, to meet at the most eastern side of Konoha where Neji would use Byakugan to find the first gate closest to Konoha and start scouting for any enemies who managed to be close. Then, once they had a plan, they would head off.

Naruto skipped going up the stairs to that unfamiliar place he called his homeand just jumped over the railings. He unlocked his door walked inside, and started to think of what he should pack. He got out his backpack and put in his larger weapons like Fuuma Shuriken, packed his sleeping bag, personals and his favorite sleepy cap. That was really all Naruto thought that he needed. He wasn't really used to taking much stuff with him on missions anymore. Another thing he would have to break himself of. Besides, it had only been about an hour since he was here last and it didn't feel any different. Naruto almost ran out of the door and when he locked it behind him, almost felt like he wished he would never have to come back. Why was his house the only place he didn't feel like he belonged in?

The Hokage's office was almost a relief for Naruto to be in, the showers of Anbu were relaxing, even now that he was going on a mission he found his old excitement coming back to him, because he knew this would take a while. More time away from home. Any place but here. But when he returned he would have to come back here and sleep. Naruto didn't want to even be near this place anymore, and maybe it was seeing HIS hitae-ate that made him feel so strange about being in his own house. To distract himself, Naruto figured he would go by the eastern wall and wait for everybody else. Naruto left a note to himself to get rid of that hitae-ate somehow, so maybe his home wouldn't be filled with bad memories.


	3. The Meaning of Teamwork

Ok, so here's chapter 3, as promised in a more timely fashion. Please review or I will learn NOTHING! This chapter is a bit long, so bear with me...and try to enjoy. SASUKE HATERS UNITE!

After about a half an hour, all four were gathered at the eastern gate of Konoha, closest to Tsuchigakure. Once they were there, before anything else happened, they had to work out a strategy.

"What Naruto said about Uragiri possibly being dead is true. First thing's first. We need to confirm if he's alive or not, once we have that much information, we can start looking for ways to track him down." Shizune said firmly as she adjusted her backpack straps.

"How do you plan to do that Neji-senpai?" Arate was obviously a fast person, but slow in the head.

"Naruto, I was keeping tabs on you when you worked for Anbu. Hinata-sama had asked me to make sure you returned to the village since she's been busy with matters of the head family. While researching your success rate on missions, I found out that you've discovered a way to alter the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. I read about what you learned, but explain how it works." Neji said seriously, and with concern in his voice. This was definitely going somewhere.

"Yeah, I found out a way to make my Bunshin capable of more than just my own abilities, but the abilities of whoever's chakra I use for the Jutsu. Chakra is channeled and created in the body's center of gravity. Attacking that point precisely can cause the body to increase chakra flow out from the tenketsu and by using your own chakra as a magnet, you can capture the chakra in the air that is released before it's converted to heat. Using this chakra, can make a Bunshin capable of somebody else's abilities instead of your own, since the chakra used for the Jutsu isn't your own. Also, when a person dies, a small amount of chakra is still left in the body, and that can be absorbed and used as well." Naruto said, wondering why Neji wanted to know about this. He discovered it on accident and didn't think much of it, and didn't even know it was on record. In fact altering a Kinjutsu was already forbidden. Having a higher authority find out that he alerted the Kage Bunshin would get in him in trouble.

"So you've learn how to use and isolate foreign chakra with your own body?"

"Not exactly. Letting foreign chakra into your body can be dangerous. Anybody could use foreign chakra, it was just a matter of learning how to isolate it from your own chakra so that it won't fluctuate through your body, and possibly cause damage." Naruto said, almost like it was common knowledge. Although it was a great breakthrough, he was now starting to wonder about what Neji planned to use this method to do.

"Naruto, what about mixing?"

"Possible, if you want to risk killing yourself. What do you plan to do with this?" To the point. Anything to get Neji to stop asking questions.

"Everyone, we don't want the Tsuchi no Ninja to know that we're coming. We need some way to make sure that everything ahead of us is clear of any obstructions. Naruto, if you would be able to create Bunshin that can travel ahead of us and either deal with, or alert us of any threat, we can keep our presence concealed until we know whether or not Uragiri is alive or not. Once we know that, then we can pursue, but it's then that we have to be even more alert." Neji informed the others of his plan and after thinking it over Naruto understood exactly what his Jutsu was for. If he could create Bunshin that couldn't be recognized, then the Tsuchi no Ninja wouldn't be on alert. Neji and Naruto were well-known and considered dangerous to other ninja villages, so exposing them, would put the team in danger. And if Tsuchigakure found out that they were headed for their village then they would either send opposing ninja, prepare the village to defend itself, or even evacuate Uragiri, if not kill him.

"My Bunshin are directly linked to me, I can tell them what to do, and monitor that. I can also make them so that they aren't recognized or if they are seen, they won't alarm anyone." Naruto then jumped off the wall and into the mass forest that was under it and the other's quickly followed. Naruto turned towards them and reached for them and for some reason the excitement he felt earlier came back to him since they were out of the village now. Naruto couldn't help but smile at his team.

"If I'm going to create Bunshin that can withstand attacks, without using too much of my own chakra, I'll need to borrow some of yours." He said smiling like he used to, and was now comfortable with again. Shizune giggled and stepped forward, and placed her hands on top of Naruto's and gave him some of her chakra. Neji and Arate did the same, and once he had a little bit from everyone, he charged it with his own red chakra and performed the seal that Neji and Shizune had seen him use all the time.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Naruto said quietly as a another body appeared next to him dressed in an Anbu uniform. It didn't look at all like Naruto, Neji, Shizune, or Arate, but none of them asked why, because the Bunshin's purpose was to distract enemies from them.

"Naruto-senpai? Why did you need to borrow our chakra? I heard that the Kage Bunshin was your best jutsu, and one of the first you learned. It's said that you can generate thousands easily, but you needed extra chakra just for one?" Arate was the child that couldn't find Kirigakure on the globe and asked if it was really there. The kid that needed everything explained to him, word for word. But Naruto couldn't laugh or be angry at that, he was that way when he was younger as well, and still was somewhat.

"Generating one Kage Bunshin is easy for me, yes. I had to make this Bunshin able to hold out on it's own in case something is to happen. Your chakra increased it's speed, Shizune-neechan's gave it medical capabilities that make it able to immobilize an enemy easily, and mine gave it stamina and strong attacks."

"And Neji-senpai's chakra gave it Byakugan, right?"

"Wrong. Byakugan is a Kekkei Genkai. It only flows in the blood of it's user, not his chakra even though his chakra is uniformed to use the jutsu. If this Bunshin were to use Byakugan, I would have to use Neji's blood. What this Bunshin has of Neji's is Jyuuken style taijutsu." Now Naruto was starting to understand why Kakashi-sensei never focused much effort into training him. He was a genius, and apparently didn't have the patience to explain everything to him. Whereas Ero-sennin showed him how to do something, then let him alone to figure it out on his own. It took longer, but it left him to figure out the best way to use his chakra is different ways for different reasons.

"In any case, Naruto, send this Bunshin ahead of us, and we will follow it " Without even saying a word, the Bunshin jumped into the trees and headed off in the direction of Tsuchigakure.

"We will follow after him once he's at least three miles ahead of us. Naruto, why did you make the Bunshin wear an Anbu uniform?"

"So that if an enemy does see it, they'll think it's just a Konoha Anbu doing a regular scouting mission. They won't pay him any mind, and those who do, it will evade. Then we can figure out that he's gone off course and prepare to ambush it's pursuer." Shizune jumped on answering that before Naruto could. It seemed that Neji was throwing out ideas, and everyone else was contributing to them. Was that what a team does these days? Naruto remembered the leader telling everyone what to do and the others did it. At least this could be called a group effort, instead of the team consisting of one brain, and several other disposable soldiers. In this team, everyone had abilities to contribute, and something to add to a plan.

_"The most important thing to Shinobi is Teamwork!"_ Naruto remembered Kakashi-sensei telling him long ago. Naruto wanted to believe that teamwork would get them all through this mission without trouble, or at least without injury. It never seemed to save him and team seven, because they rarely got along well enough to work together and when they did work together was when if they didn't, they would all die. Except in the Chuunin Exams, where his team was too afraid to attack Orochimaru, so it was only Naruto trying to get rid of him, while they were trying to get away and save themselves. It was only after he threw HIS own words back at him, from when Naruto was too afraid to attack the Demon Brothers, did he wake up and try attack once Naruto was already passed out and spent. Naruto knew it wasn't going to be like that, because they were all mature, and experienced. Naruto didn't want to think about his teammates, so he tried to distract himself.

"Neji, how far has it gotten?" Neji didn't answer verbally, but put his hands into a common Tora no Fuin and opened his eyes into Byakugan and looked off in the direction that the Bunshin had gone. Naruto, Shizune, and Arate kept themselves quiet until Neji spoke up.

"It's far enough away now. We can start. Naruto, are you able to ask it to stop?"

"Yeah."

"Good, lets get going." Neji said then jumped into a nearby tree and started off, with Shizune following him closely, and Arate ahead of him by just a bit. Naruto was farthest back, not because he was slower than them, but to spread them out a bit for the reason that in case they are ambushed, Naruto's distance would make him able to escape it and take out the pursuers. Naruto noted that all the years of experience with dangerous missions made them act this way on impulse. They never discussed their travel formation, but they didn't have to. They knew the risks of this mission and how what it meant to carry out a sneaking mission successfully.

_"Maybe we have been ruined."_ Naruto thought to himself as he remembered Iruka-sensei telling him that Kakashi-sensei joked about letting his team take the Chuunin exam the first time in order to ruin them. To show them what it was to be a real Shinobi. To show them how dangerous other ninja could really be, and how dangerous mission can really get. Now dangerous missions were too familiar for them all. Their wake up call had already come long ago. Neji's was probably when he was fighting Kidomaru, and almost died. Naruto's most dangerous mission was when he was both outnumbered and out-classed on an Anbu mission. That was his wake up call, that if he didn't do something he would die and his mission would fail. Naruto had a team of three other Anbu with him, who had already been killed right in front of him. And this was within Naruto's rookie year as a Hunter Nin. He really never saw a torturous and brutal death happen right in front of him, leaving him to either kill his enemy, or die the same way. The mission that day did fail, because Naruto was forced to run away. Naruto fled desperately and managed to get away with serious injuries, and luckily made it to Anbu HQ in time to tell them the information they were given was incorrect and that his teammates were dead.

Naruto didn't know about Arate or Shizune-neechan, but they had to be ruined somehow. Arate might not have been ruined yet. He was still younger than Naruto, and seemed naive like he was once. He knew that missions were dangerous, but never thought that it would a problem for him. Like he went on assuming that whatever happened, he could handle it.

That made Naruto wonder about that term "ruined". Was it the right word, or was it too harsh? If Naruto had never experienced that Anbu mission, and was assigned an assassination, then he would be able to murder a child younger than him, and still manage to stay innocent, and smile afterwards when the mission was done and over with. It was only once a ninja experiences the mission that nearly takes their lives, do they become more aware of possible danger on missions. That not everybody has morals and values. Some people will kill anyone or anything without even thinking about what it might mean to them. It's once a ninja sees another die, or almost dies himself, that he is ruined. The first time they have to put their own lives ahead of the importance of the mission because otherwise, death in inevitable, then they have been ruined. That was all it took. Not like that was a little thing that could be overlooked. It was the one thing that changed someone forever. That grabbed hold of them and left them in fear. A fear they could never overcome, and a grip they could never break. Fear of your life is the worst there is, and nobody should have to feel that. Naruto determined that "ruined" was the best word this situation. After a person has been ruined, then they feel that while they are on a mission, anyone who opposes them, is potentially an enemy or possible threat and the only way to save yourself and your team, is by eliminating it. When regards to someone else's life while on a mission no longer means anything to you, because your life could be at stake as well. That was what it meant to be ruined.

Naruto spent most of his time thinking about this topic deeper while following behind Neji, Arate, and Shizune-neechan. All this time, forgetting that Neji's range of vision was almost 360 degrees. The whole time, Neji was watching Naruto's eyes, face and posture change. Determining with his Byakugan, that seemed to be looking off into the distance to follow the Bunshin, what Naruto was thinking, how he felt about his thoughts. On top of what Neji had seen in his eyes and expressions earlier in the day, he could tell that Naruto still felt as if something was missing.

The team didn't stop all day. There was no need to, they were making good time and Tsuchigakure was four days from Konoha. At their rate they would get there in at least three days. But they weren't in a rush either, when you rush you're careless. Once the sun had set and it was good and dark out, Neji asked for Naruto to signal to the Bunshin to stop where ever it was. Within few more minutes, the team caught up to it, and Naruto dismissed it. Once it disappeared into a small puff of smoke, they started to set up a small camp. No fire, no tent, only sleeping bags. A tent and fire would be too easier to trace, and would give away their position and frankly, they didn't want to kill anyone just yet. They talked for a bit about which direction they were headed tomorrow, and where to approach Tsuchigakure and still keep themselves hidden. Using the map that Shizune-neechan was carrying with her, she tried to determine the best course of action.

"Tsuchigakure is only half as large as Konoha, due to the damage we did to them during the Third Ninja War and their lack of resources to repair everything. There's no doubt that if we're caught, we won't be treated well because we are Konoha Ninja. Since the village is smaller it's probably easier for them to patrol more ground. If we split up and infiltrate the village from all four corners, we can cover just as much ground and find Uragiri faster." Shizune said quietly while looking at her teammates to see if they objected. Neji immediately did just that.

"No. I realize that it's easier to keep one person hidden than keep four hidden, but splitting up is too dangerous. Besides, we can't start searching for Uragiri since we don't know whether or not the information we have is true. He could be dead, so we have to keep that in mind before we do anything else."

"So the first thing we have to do is gather information then?" Arate asked since it was true, they had to confirm if what Tsunade had been assuming was true or not.

"That's all we can do. And I can't identify his chakra signature with my Byakugan since I'm not familiar with it. But we need to do this correctly the first time. We can't afford to make any mistakes."

"Did Tsunade no Baachan even give us a description or a picture of this guy? And do we really even know if Hangyakusha Uragiri is really his name? If he was a Konoha Anbu then it's possible that was his code name, since the Anbu have to keep their everyday identities secret." Being a member of Anbu did have it's ups, for this mission at least.

"Yeah, I have his picture, pictures of his teammates from the mission he disappeared on, and confirmation that Uragiri was not his just his code name. So we do have some valid information to go with."

"So what kind of approach should we take? We can't just waltz into the village and ask about him." Arate was full of questions, and it seemed that everyone else was full of answers, especially Naruto, since he was only one who wasn't annoyed at him just yet.

"Tomorrow, Arate, when I generate a new Bunshin for us to follow behind, we can send it into the village with a different look. And since it's a Kage Bunshin it poses as a real body and a true human being. It shouldn't be easy for someone to tell if it's a fake. It can easily pose as a citizen of the village, and it can either look around for him, or ask around." Naruto was just throwing an idea out really, he didn't know if that would fly with Neji or Shizune-neechan, but he looked up at them both and they just nodded at him. That was enough of an 'I agree' as he was going to get at this point.

"And what if someone does realize that he isn't real and they destroy it?"

"Then we have to act quickly. If they know our aim, then the mission will become too difficult. They would probably kill Uragiri, or have him guarded." Shizune-neechan added.

"In which case, we would have to get to him before their ninja did, and replace him with a Bunshin, or even one of us would have to stay as a distraction." Naruto couldn't tell if that was Neji throwing out ideas, or being serious.

"Wouldn't that be dangerous for whoever was left behind?" Naruto determined from that Arate was probably still not ruined yet. If he was, then we would know that sometimes those kinds of risks needed to be taken.

"Are you sure you're a Jounin?" Naruto asked then started quietly laughing, and Shizune-neechan joined in. Neji smirked, but didn't make any noise and Arate giggled inwardly. Nobody bothered to answer that question, and the rest of the night was spent quietly planning for tomorrow, and answering Arate's questions about just about anything. Naruto half expected Arate to ask where babies came from, and planned to let Shizune-neechan answer that one.

It was still early when they decided to sleep. They all crawled into their sleeping bags and soon were all fast asleep, except Naruto. For some reason when he was young, he would get overly excited about getting missions, and would forget about the potential danger. Before he was ruined, this was easy for him to do and while everybody was sitting there and talking he felt safe. Why? They were on a mission in enemy ground, these were the most dangerous. He never sat and spoke to any of his teammates as an Anbu casually like that. Anytime they did speak, they were giving orders, or planning a strategy. Maybe he was getting used to things, as longs as they weren't at home and nobody was looking at him then whispering to the person next to them, and he wasn't covered in blood. But that was still left for question. They might have to kill on this mission. Whatever the case, tomorrow was going to be all travel as well, and if they were lucky, the next day wouldn't. Naruto somehow knew that he was going to get a lot more sleep tonight than he did last night, so decided to savor it as best as he could. He turned over, made himself comfortable and shut his eyes.

Next Morning...

It took them all of ten minutes to pack up their sleeping bags and get ready to leave again. Neji suggested that Naruto make today's Bunshin look different from yesterday's so that in case it was seen, this time, it wouldn't be recognized. They followed the same pattern as yesterday and everybody put up a bit of chakra for Naruto to create his Bunshin with. Once that was done and the Bunshin took off, they waited. Neji watched the distance with his Byakugan to see how far the Bunshin was going and when they should start off as well. And surprising as it was, he spoke before taking off himself.

"Naruto, tell the Bunshin to stop." Neji said firmly, which told Naruto that he wasn't kidding. Naruto formed the regular Hitsuji no Fuin and commanded the Bunshin to stop where it was, and stay alert.

"What happened?" Naruto asked after his task was complete.

"We're closer to Tsuchigakure than we thought. We should get there by tonight."

"Will we continue as we planned last night Neji-kun? Shizune asked just as confirmation, in case Neji had something else in mind.

"Yeah, but we need to stop a considerable distance from the village so we can stay hidden from the Anbu scouts of their village. Naruto, what is the distance range for Anbu patrol?"

"Anywhere from a five to seven mile radius of the village, but that's only for Konoha, they might have a different range."

"We can assume that their radius is smaller, since their village is smaller." Arate said, and made sense, but assuming on a mission this potentially dangerous wasn't good enough.

"That's true, but we can't be sure of that. We'll stop ten miles from the village and hide out until Naruto's Bunshin finds out something about Uragiri. Naruto, best to disguise you're Bunshin as a villager now, so that it's not spotted, and ten miles before, have it stop and walk. Having a villager hopping through the trees will looks suspicious." Now Neji wasn't throwing out ideas, he was ordering. Since they were close to the danger zone, now was the best time to prepare for the worst.

"Ossu."

Naruto performed the Hitsuji no Fuin again, and imagined a new, more casual and innocent appearance for the Bunshin to take. Once that was done, he looked at everyone, who only nodded at him. That was his cue to tell the Bunshin that it could keep going now. A few moments later Neji gave the signal for them to start following, but this time, gave hand signals to everybody to tell them what formation he wanted them to take. Arate was farthest back this time and Naruto was leading, with Shizune-neechan a considerable distance to the right side from the group. Since they were closer to enemy grounds, their medic needed to take the most caution. Her death or injury could mean the failure of the mission and it was the medics obligation to avoid enemy attacks. Hence why she was positioned away from the group, in order to make evasion easier for her.

At about mid-day Neji told Naruto to make the Bunshin start walking the rest of the way, as his Byakugan saw an Anbu of Tsuchigakure within distance of it. Naruto did that easily and they only traveled for a bit more until Neji said that if they traveled any farther the scouts would find them.

"Their Anbu patrol range is only two to four miles. as long as we stay at least that far from the village they shouldn't find us. I'm going to watch over the Bunshin and it's surroundings. Naruto, I'll tell you what to do with it, so that it can find information. Arate, Shizune, stay alert just in case." Neji ordered, now that they were as close as they could get to enemy grounds at this point. Naruto and Neji hid themselves and watched over the Bunshin to make sure that everything went smoothly for it. Arate and Shizune-neechan hid themselves separately in the same fashion as before, with Arate a bit behind them, and Shizune-neechan hiding off to the side.

"Naruto, when does Anbu usually lighten it's patrol?" Neji asked and Naruto knew exactly why.

"During the day they are alert most of the time, and at night, even more so. But its late afternoon and sun down when transfers are made. To avoid that best, we should attack right before sun down, just before transfers are made. The Anbu at the end of their shift will lighten up, and the new ones will be adjusting." Neji nodded and put his hand in the air, to signal to Arate and Shizune-neechan. The signal that said keep an eye on us and when we move, follow.

Naruto rubbed his eyes and tried to concentrate his chakra to work with Neji. He couldn't see through the Bunshin's eyes but Neji was watching it closely, making sure it didn't come to any trouble. Neji was telling Naruto about it's surroundings, and from that they would discuss what it should do, how it should respond, how it should react and everything in between.

Around sun down, the Bunshin had walked into a crowded bar, and had been showing various people who didn't look dangerous a picture of Uragiri, hoping that one of them would know who he was. Once Neji saw the reaction that one man made to the picture, that man's chakra signature saw recognition. He knew Uragiri. Neji told Naruto to have the Bunshin ask the man to step outside and speak with him about it. Luckily this man was drunk, but drunken men tend to run their mouths, so they felt this man's information was as truthful as it was going to get. All the man was able to tell the Bunshin was that he came to the village four years ago, and almost never comes out of his house or has visitors. Nobody knows much about him or what he does for a living, all they know is where he lives.

The fact that he was alive and his exact location was enough for Neji. Naruto had the Bunshin thank him and the man walked back into the bar, and Neji focused his chakra on him, and watched his movements. Once he saw the man take another shot of sake, he focused a Genjutsu to make the man pass and forget everything. It wouldn't be suspected, since he was drunk anyways.

Neji raised his hand and a split second later Arate and Shizune-neechan were behind them both.

"What happened Neji-kun?" Shizune-neechan asked not sure if she should be concerned or not. Neji smiled a dry smile.

"We found him."

Cliffhanger to the max. Please don't hate me. It was getting too long, I wanted to keep going, but next chapter won't take long either, as long as my teachers don't assign anymore essays and research projects. Please Review.


	4. I did what I had to do

Alright so here's chapter 4. Sorry it took so long but between research projects, studying for finals, and going to Miami for a week, I haven't had too much time to work on it. But now that I'm back home and it's winter break I have tons of time on my hands, so I decided to write. But if you guys want to speed me up a bit IM me (KakashiIshDaSexi) and nag the crap out of me! Seriously just say stuff like, "why aren't you writing?" "are you writing". But really, hope you guys like this one too! Please review!

"We found him." The look in Neji's face and eyes was enough to let everybody know exactly what he had planned once they captured him. This guy wasn't going to have a pleasant time with their team, unless he cooperated. Neji continued and his malice disappeared, the hard part of the mission was over.

"Naruto told me that just before sun down was the best time to act, since the Anbu scouts will be making transfers at this time. If we are going to capture him tonight, we need to act quickly." Neji said as he sat down at the base of the rock that he and Naruto were hiding behind just a moment ago.

"Neji-senpai, now that we have all of our information, maybe we should wait until tomorrow to capture him. It's almost sun down now, and we don't know how we're going to capture him yet. We should take a day to rest from traveling and think of a strategy." Arate was making sense. They were all pretty tired from traveling most of the day. Naruto probably not as much as the others, since a good night's sleep was all he ever needed to recharge himself.

"Neji, that might not be a bad idea. The guy we got the information from won't remember a thing, so he can't tell anyone about it. We're safe to wait another day." Naruto didn't mind giving it another day. They didn't have a strategy and no time to plan one either. But from the look on Neji's face, it didn't look like he wanted to wait.

"The man that told us about Uragiri told us that nobody pays him any mind, which means that if we focus on keeping our presence down, then capturing him and keeping that a secret shouldn't be too hard either. We have just as good a chance tonight as any other day."

"Neji, we need to scout the outer walls for an escape route in case we're seen, we have to find out which parts of the village are easiest to infiltrate through and a campsite to bring Uragiri to once we have him. We can't do all of that in the next few hours, and you said yourself that you don't want to split up. Tomorrow would be better." Naruto didn't feel like arguing with Neji, because in the back of his mind, he knew that Neji would win this anyway. But he had to agree with Arate, they had just gotten all the information about Uragiri that they needed to find him, now before they captured him they needed to make prior preparations.

"Shizune, what do you think?" Neji asked but almost like he was asking for sake of majority rules.

"Naruto-kun and Arate-kun are right. I'm sorry Neji-kun, there's too much left to prepare for and we could all use some rest." Naruto reconsidered what he thought about not winning this. Neji was quiet now, and didn't say anymore on the topic. Since he was silent Naruto took the chance to step in and plan for tomorrow.

"The sun is just about setting, so we should probably get our rest now. There's plenty of time tomorrow starting at sunrise to plan where to bring him, and where to go in case we're seen. To do all of that tonight is a higher risk since the Anbu scouts are usually much sharper at night. So tomorrow Neji and Arate should try to find a safe place to enter the village, and Shizune-neechan and I will find a place to bring Uragiri." Naruto looked up at anyone to see if they had any other plan. It didn't look like anyone thought that the arrangement should be different, so they all just nodded their heads. Naruto then suggested that they move at least a few more miles away from the village, since he's heard of villages expanding their scout radius at night for tighter security. Within the next twenty minutes the team was far enough away to be safe from scouts and was fast asleep. Even Naruto had fallen asleep relatively quickly, and without any worries or fears. Probably because this kind of place is where he's used to being. On the enemies front line, ready for anything. The most dangerous place was now the only place where he felt like he knew where he was and why he was there. Strange and somewhat pathetic. Strange because the dangerous places should be where he stays up all night, worried about his safety and the safety of his team. And pathetic because the places where he should feel safe and out of trouble or danger were the places he couldn't stand to be for more than a few hours. Naruto didn't even realize any of this. All he knew was that he didn't feel strange or pathetic, but calm and familiar.

Next Morning...

Neji woke up first and packed himself up, then woke everybody else who then followed suit to Neji. Naruto was the last one to wake himself up and the last one to have himself packed. Once they were all ready to move out Neji sent Naruto and Shizune out to find a safe place far enough away from the village not to be found, but not too far as to have trouble getting there with a captured prisoner.

On their way, Shizune was keeping track of their distance on the map and Naruto was running through the brush on the ground as opposed to through the trees. Reason being that hopping through the trees caused the branches to shake and made noise, and they didn't want to alert anything or anyone around them. Besides, the last thing they needed was to be followed to a place that was supposed to be a hideout. Once they were around a good twenty miles from the village, they found an abandoned cabin. Naruto and Shizune both examined the outside perimeter and the inside to make sure that there was no way anyone lived here. It was old and the wooden walls, ceiling and floors were all rotting. There was no sign of furniture or belongings anywhere, and from the amount of overgrown forest and brush covering the house outside, they assumed it had been a while since anybody was here.

Once they were satisfied with the location, they left. Before running off, Naruto grew one of Kyuubi's tails from his lower back and gently brushed his and Shizune's foot prints away. Then pounded his tail against the ground to make it look like it hadn't been disturbed. Once Naruto started back towards where they were supposed to meet up with Neji and Arate, he found that Shizune hadn't waited for him, but left tiny kunai marks on the nearby trees in case he couldn't find his way back.

With Naruto's speed, he caught up to Shizune quickly and they ran the rest of the way together. Once they were at the previous night's campsite, they sat and patiently waited for Arate and Neji. They didn't talk, but Shizune occasionally glanced at Naruto, but he never glanced back. The one time he did, all he did was smile at her, and still said nothing. Shizune didn't smile back, in fact, she looked sad almost. Naruto noticed, but ignored it.

"Naruto-kun, why...?" Shizune didn't get to finish before Arate interrupted.

"Neji-senpai and I found some good places for us to enter and exit the village, but both places are different. In case we get discovered and one exit is blocked, we can use the other!" Arate seemed awfully proud of his achievement, and who was Naruto to tell him it wasn't that big of a deal? It was a big deal, an insurance policy really.

"What now, Neji?" Naruto asked getting less cheerful. They were that much closer to the enemy, so there was no time for fun and games.

"Shizune, the map." Neji said without looking at her, just holding his hand out in her direction. Shizune rummaged through her backpack, pulled it out and handed it to him. Neji took it and opened it on the ground. Naruto, Arate and Shizune gathered around and watched as he drew faint lines on the map with a pencil.

"Arate and I took time to make sure the exits were usable. We saw the place where Uragiri is, and confirmed that it was him. The information we were given is correct, nobody pays him any mind, and he almost never leaves his house. The closest usable exit to him is here. Naruto, we will need you and Shizune to lead the way out of the village to the hideout you prepared. How far is it?" Neji said occasionally pointing to some important places on the map.

"Shizune-neechan and I found an abandoned cabin about twenty miles southeast of here. It's back in the direction of Konoha, so in case something goes wrong, we can retreat. We checked it. Nobody's been there for quite a long time." Naruto said as Neji looked at Shizune, and she gave a nod saying that he was telling the truth.

"It's right about here, Neji-kun." Shizune said as she took the pencil from Neji's hand and drew a small line from the village to the cabin. Arate watched and paid attention the whole time.

"Alright! When do we go in for the kill!" Arate said, a little bit too excited. Neji, Naruto and Shizune gave him stares. Naruto was the only one smiling at him. He remembered being happy about dangerous things, because he thought it might be a way that he can prove that he was a great ninja, and he had to admit that those feelings were flourishing inside of him now once again.

"After we have a plan, Arate." Neji said sounding like he was on his last nerve with the peppy kid. Naruto put his hand on Neji's shoulder and gave him a look that said 'calm down, he's just a kid'. But in the back of his mind, he couldn't blame Neji for being annoyed. They were on enemy lines, and they were merely hours away from infiltrating them, and Arate was sitting here eager and unprepared.

"Shizune, I need your help to knock him out. First I'll hit his major tenketsu and stop his flow of chakra, making him unable to do any real damage to any of us. Then I want you to use medical ninjutsu to knock him out for a good few hours. You can do that, right?" Neji didn't even really ask but wasn't confirming either, more like ordering.

"If you attack his vital tenketsu and I strike his center of gravity, where the body's chakra is circulated, the surplus of chakra that will be forced to circulate and have nowhere to go, will cause his body to go into hyperthermia, and soon pass out from massive raise in temperature. This maneuver is easy for any medical ninja." Shizune almost said that as if to say 'what do you take me for?'.

They continued to plan where and when to attack until everybody came to an agreement on time, place, and how it was to be done. Arate would enter the house first through the back door, and watch his movements for thirty minutes, to make sure that he truly was alone, had no guests, and that they weren't walking into a trap themselves. After thirty minutes, Arate would signal to Neji to enter his home. They needed to be fast, and make sure that no struggle or trouble was made so that nobody would wonder what happened enough for the Tsuchikage to investigate or put up a search party for him. Arate would draw Uragiri's attention and distract him from Neji, who would quickly strike his vital tenketsu and stop his flow of chakra. Once that was done, Arate and Neji would retreat out from the house and out of the village and scout for Anbu. Shizune and Naruto would then enter the house. Shizune would knock him out with one strike, and Naruto would carry him out leaving everything as it was. Once they were at the cabin they would question and torture him if he didn't cooperate.

Dusk...

Naruto had generated another Bunshin and disguised it as an Anbu and had it keep an eye on their escape and entrance routes. Thankfully, it was overlooked by the other Anbu scouts of Tsuchigakure during the shift switch hour. Besides, it's not like it was standing out in the open to be seen, it was hiding, in case it was seen and not recognized. But in case it was found hiding by other Anbu, they wouldn't get a good look at it.

Neji was using his Byakugan to scout and watch for Anbu scouts and find the ones that were changing shifts and that seemed unaware. The five in particular that he was watching were the five closest to the team's escape routes, and not Uragiri's location. If an Anbu attempted to help him, they could easily be taken care of, and Naruto would be able to fill there positions with Bunshins, who would be able to hold out until they got what they needed from Uragiri, or until Godaime decided what to do about the situation or what to do with the information they would either get or have to force out of him.

Arate was stretching and getting himself ready to infiltrate Uragiri's house. He was confident that he could sneak around for a half an hour and not be seen. He felt like he was ready for anything, and didn't notice Naruto watching him, as he seemed to be concentrating his chakra onto watching his Bunshin. Naruto wasn't smiling this time. In fact, he was thinking about how horrible it will be for Arate when he actually does get ruined. There was no way Arate could possibly have been ruined and still maintain such innocence. Naruto wished he could be happy and confident again, wished he could be peppy and innocent. It seemed earlier like the closer they got to danger, the farther Naruto felt from harm. But now that he was watching Arate, he felt that maybe the boy was too happy about being this close to danger. It brought back the cynical side of Naruto that he thought he had left in Anbu HQ that night, but apparently, it followed him one way or another.

Shizune was also getting herself ready to attack Uragiri by attacking nearby rocks with her hands charged with chakra. The rocks didn't move at first, but after a moment or so, shattered into pieces. She hadn't attacked the rock with great strength, but they were breaking from the inside out. She was forcing her chakra into the rocks, and then expanding it causing the rock to lose stability. This principle would apply to her attack on Uragiri by sending a surplus of chakra into his body then expanding it quickly through his tenketsu, causing hyperthermia then eventually unconsciousness.

"Everyone, come here now!" Neji didn't really yell that command, but said it firmly enough so that they knew when he said 'now' he meant 'now'. Once everybody was close enough to him, Neji squinted his eyes tightly and started looking around carefully. Naruto didn't bother watching him, but also looked off into the distance, while Shizune and Arate just starred at Neji waiting for him to speak.

"Two of the Anbu by our entrance route have left their posts, and there's no replacement. Our best change is now, only one is scouting close enough to that area to catch us, but we can avoid him easily. Let's go!" Arate jumped off to another tree branch and Naruto followed. They leaped through the trees for a few moments until they came to the village's gate. It wasn't as large as Konoha's but still big. Arate jumped and grabbed the ledge of it, then looked back at Neji. Neji nodded his head, to tell him that the area was clear for him to jump the gate.

Arate swung himself up and over the gate and landed in a crouched position on the ground in front of the wall. He looked up and to the left to make sure that the Anbu scout that was closest too him didn't see him, and used Henge no Jutsu to change his appearance to that of a villager, when he saw him about to look in his direction as if he had heard something. Once he was changed, he started walking in the opposite direction of the Anbu casually, as not to seem suspicious. Neji was still watching and let out his breathe, and loosened his grip on the tree branch he was using for balance.

"What happened, Neji-kun?" Shizune asked when she saw him ease up.

"He almost got caught, and he hasn't even been in the village for a minute." Neji asked sounding really annoyed and slightly relieved. The last thing they needed to slow the mission down was having to save him from interrogation. Naruto didn't even look over at them, but instead kept his fingers crossed for Arate.

Arate decided the best thing for walking on enemy grounds was to stay in that form and hopefully nobody would be watching him too closely. Once he reached Uragiri's home, he looked around for Anbu scouts and didn't find any close enough to him, or watching him. Once he confirmed that, he quickly slipped around to the side of the house and peeked into a window. When he didn't see Uragiri, he immediately dropped his head. He may not have seen Uragiri, but he might've been seen. Basic knowledge for spying was your angle of vision as opposed to your target's angle of vision. If the target's angle is unknown, don't risk it. With that, he waited for a moment in case someone came to the window, and when nobody did, he snuck around to the back. Arate then reached out to the sliding door, and pushed gently. It was unlocked. He took that tiny crack that he made, peeked through it and looked around a little more. He couldn't see much but he could tell that Uragiri wasn't in the room. This was good, and bad. Good because he could easily slip into the house granted that he was quiet, but bad because he didn't know where he was, and either could be seen or snuck up on, and finding a place to hide in that condition would be difficult. Deciding that the ups weren't worth the risking the downs, he slid the door closed and waited.

Neji watched and nodded. At least Arate was smart enough to know how to weigh the pros and cons of a situation, and then take proper action. Arate then put his ear up to the wall then felt and listened for movement. He heard nothing, but felt vibrations coming from the upstairs portion of the small house. Knowing this now, he slid the door open enough to let himself in, then quietly shut it behind him, and quickly ducked into a hiding place. Arate made sure he was well hidden, even to somebody who knew the house well, and stayed there. During the thirty minutes he was assigned to keep watch, Uragiri didn't come downstairs at all.

Instead of signaling to Naruto, Neji and Shizune, he decided to make sure it was safe for them to come inside. For all Arate knew, he could be upstairs waiting for him so he could ambush them. It was worth risking one ninja's life instead of four. He slipped out of his hiding place and walked slowly, in a crouched position, over to the stairs. He climbed them, and peeked around each corner before turning it.

"What's going on down there? It's already been a half an hour Neji-kun. Why hasn't Arate given us the signal?" Shizune was clearly getting worried that maybe Neji wasn't giving them enough information about what he was seeing.

"It's not safe right now. We don't have enough information on how to enter his house. And Arate hasn't given a signal, because he hasn't seen Uragiri yet and doesn't know what he's doing. He's been in the lower level of the house, and now he's going to check the upstairs, to confirm Uragiri's position. It won't be long now." Neji obviously was agreeing with Arate's course of action. Neji then looked over at Naruto, and finally understood what he was doing. He was concentrating on his Bunshin, having it keep an eye on Arate, and give him notice if something happened. It was also keeping the other Anbu scouts away, by ensuring them that somebody was already covering that area. It lightened the load on Arate, so all he had to worry about was Uragiri for the time being. Neji said nothing to him, as not to break his concentration, since that was always an area where Naruto lacked but instead motioned to Shizune to be quiet, stop asking questions and be patient.

Neji looked back into the house with his Byakugan and saw that Arate was right outside the room that Uragiri was in. He was getting ready to sleep and from his body language and chakra flow, was apparently tired. Capturing him would take no time at all. Just as Neji thought that, Arate drew his kunai and used the hand holding it to cut his finger a bit. Both Neji, and the Bunshin saw it.

"That's it Neji!" Naruto finally said which startled Shizune. Neji immediately took off and Shizune followed closely behind him, and Naruto by Neji's side. Within minutes, they were all surrounding the house that Arate was in. Naruto looked up and saw his Bunshin and waved to it. It didn't wave back but lifted it's mask to show that it was, indeed, Naruto's Bunshin. Arate looked through a window and saw Neji, they nodded at each other, saying that they were both ready. Naruto looked at Shizune and they both showed that they were ready. Arate then took the kunai that he was still holding and jammed it into the door hard enough for the blade to push through to the other side, and make enough noise to wake Uragiri, if he was sleeping. Once Arate heard movement in the room, he ran through an open door and hid again. Once Neji saw the door handle move, he opened the window and slipped inside, making sure to be close enough to attack him quickly.

Neji looked at the position of the door again, and decided differently. Instead of being there when Uragiri opened the door, he hid behind the banister of the staircase and waited for him to come closer. Naruto looked through the window he was closest to and saw Uragiri. The picture they were given was old, so his appearance didn't match exactly. He was a man of average height, and was very skinny. He looked much older than he was, he was in his early forties, but looked closer to his late fifties. He had large, wrinkly bags under his eyes and his cheekbones were clearly visible. It was obvious that he wasn't taking good care of himself, and Naruto made a mental note to himself that he probably would have to be gentle with him if he was going to survive torture, if it came down to that.

Luckily enough, Uragiri walked slowly towards the stairs, holding onto the wall as he went. He was weak and frail, and Naruto silently hoped to himself that Neji would notice that, and not attack him so violently. But before Naruto could think anymore, he had to act. Uragiri was a few steps away from Neji's range of attack and he couldn't risk Neji killing him by being too violent.

"Shizune-neechan! Go in now! Attack him!" Naruto said loud enough for her to hear. Sure enough too, without hesitation, she did. She came through the window that Neji left open and did as they planned. She struck the old man right in his stomach, and he immediately fell to his feet coughing and wheezing. Right after, his skin started to sweat and become clammy. Shizune just watched until his knees gave out and he collapsed onto the ground. Neji rose from his hiding place, and looked enraged with her early reaction. Thankfully Naruto saw it coming and slipped through the window, grabbed Uragiri, and positioned him so that his arms came over his shoulders and he could hold onto the underside of his legs. With that he called for Arate and jumped back through the window and followed through with the rest of the plan.

Neji and Shizune simply followed Naruto and Arate quietly. Eventually Shizune made her away ahead of Naruto and lead the way. Once they got to the cabin, Naruto went inside and put Uragiri down in the corner farthest from the door, and immediately walked out. Shizune walked over and started to tie Uragiri up with the rope she was carrying with her, and strengthening it with chakra. Just before Naruto walked out the door, he looked back at Shizune.

"There's no need to strengthen the rope. He's too weak to break the rope without it, you'll just burn him. He can't die before we can make him talk." Shizune heard him, but didn't stop what she was doing. She simply finished binding his ankles and wrists, then left him alone, and didn't strengthen the rope. Besides, if he was that weak, they wouldn't have any need to worry about him getting away.

Naruto wasn't too happy to find Neji following him outside the cabin. He was about to bitch at him for telling Shizune to act before he signaled her. Naruto at this point didn't care too much. He knew that he did was needed to be done for the mission. The man had almost no chakra to begin with, and attacking his tenketsu would've been too dangerous for him. Naruto had made rash decisions like that on Anbu missions before and after explaining to his team why he did what he did, they usually dropped it and continued with the rest of the mission. But they never questioned him while he acted, but when it was safe and the task was complete.

But not Neji. Neji was smart, and knew what it meant to act as a team and according to plan, but he was already angry with some of Arate's actions and clumsiness. And now he had a perfect excuse and target to release it all on. Naruto sat against a tree outside and Neji sat in front of him.

"You should've waited for me to signal Shizune." Neji didn't sound as angry as Naruto had thought, so he eased up as well.

"If you had attacked him the way we planned, it would've fatally injured him, and possibly killed him. I couldn't risk that."

"That's why we have Shizune."

"I know why she's here, but no amount of medical ninjutsu can unclog the tenketsu. That simply takes time, and for him, too much time."

"I'll give you that."

"I did what I had to do. I didn't have time to explain myself to Shizune-neechan or signal to you. It was a now or never situation."

"I know. Forget it. I actually wanted to ask you something else." When Naruto looked up at Neji, he saw that he was genuinely curious and definitely concerned. Whatever it was that he was going to ask Naruto, he knew it wouldn't be easy to answer, but felt ready for it anyway.

"Shizune tried to ask you about it earlier, but she didn't get time. Why did you enlist into Anbu? And more importantly, why did you resign?" Just as Naruto thought. And to make it worse, it was the last thing he wanted to talk about. The last thing on his mind at the moment. He was fighting to keep it there, and was winning, but now that Neji brought it up, and he couldn't ignore the question. He could easily say that it wasn't any of Neji's business, but knowing Neji, he would use his genius skill of interrogation by reading his eyes, and eventually get it out of him. Naruto saw no reason to stand his ground and keep him mouth shut like he was captured. He was with a fellow ninja. A teammate. His friend.

Review!


	5. The Task At Hand

Well then! Here you go guys! Chapter 5! Sorry it took so long! You guys all know, stuff, stuff and stuff. Family crap and such. Can't really get away from it enough to write my ficcy! cries! But at least I completely know what's going to be in chapter 6 so I'm hoping to get it up before my 18th birthday! crosses fingers please review guys! I need to know what I can do better!

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"Why did you enlist into Anbu? And more importantly, why did you resign?" Neji asked Naruto calmly, and was almost ready for him to say that it wasn't important and that it was over. But from the look in Naruto's eyes, Neji could tell that he was debating with himself whether or not to tell him. At first his eyes were disturbed and uncertain, but after a few more moments they seemed trusting, at ease, comforted, comfortable, familiar, and relieved.

"The night I resigned was the night I remembered the second lesson that Kakashi-sensei taught me. 'Ninja who break the rules are called trash. But those you don't care for the their friends, are even worse trash.' I enlisted so that I could get a better chance to find Sasuke, only because I promised Sakura that I would. I promised her. All that time under Anbu service I kept thinking that I was doing what I needed to do for her, staying true to my way of the ninja for her. But, she had made a promise to me as well, and she's doing nothing to keep it. I will keep my promise to her, even if she doesn't keep hers to me, but I'll do it my own way."

Naruto answered before he had time to think about it, but he had been thinking about it since he resigned, so he already knew what he had to say.

"You can't help Sasuke, Naruto. He found happiness with his friends in the village and had he thrown away his lust for revenge then, he would've stayed happy. But he threw his happiness instead. He betrayed the village and nearly got you, me, and the rest of our team, and the Sand Nin killed. He's a fool, and there is no cure for a fool. Unless he comes back on his own terms, he never will."

Naruto knew in the back of his mind that Neji was right. Every word of it. Sasuke was happy. He did love his team and friends. But he loved the idea of being powerful and killing his brother more. Killing somebody he hated meant more to him than being with the people he loved, and loved him back. He loved somebody that he hated, more than those he loved. He lived in the past. For Sasuke, the only future he would have was whatever came after he killed Itachi.

"Naruto, I realize that you want to keep your promise to Sakura, and I'm not about to tell you that it's not worth it. But this isn't about winning her over Sasuke anymore right?"

"Of course not. I don't care what she does anymore. I might if she had kept her promise to me. She would've enlisted into Anbu with me if she cared about her promise. She can do whatever she wants and it's out of my hands, but I made a promise, and I will keep it."

"That's your downfall Naruto." Neji said dead serious, looking Naruto straight in the eye. Naruto could tell that Neji was looking for some reaction in his eyes and he tried to keep it away, but couldn't help but wonder what he meant by 'downfall'. Neji saw it, but waited for Naruto to speak up.

"The fact that I don't care?" Naruto said a bit sarcastically. Neji heard and saw that as well.

"You say that you don't care, but you do."

"Let me guess. Your eyes can see it?" Naruto was right, but had the wrong attitude.

"Don't start. I'm trying to tell you something." When Naruto just looked at Neji, he continued.

"If you didn't care Naruto, you wouldn't bother keeping your promise to her. I know it's your way of the ninja never to go back on your word, and you shouldn't. I know that you'll bring Sasuke back, but you need to wait to make your move. Until then, don't bother with either of them." Neji didn't think he was getting through to Naruto when he saw his eyes. They were looking for clarity.

"What I'm trying to say is that if Godaime wanted to capture Sasuke she would've sent Anbu after Orochimaru, in which case, Sasuke would be found. She knows how much finding him means to you regardless of how much you say you don't care. She would send you on that mission. But the village isn't ready to risk a counter attack from Orochimaru or the Otogakure ninja. So, in a way, your job is preventing you from going after him. You should worry about the task at hand."

"We already captured the old man. That was the task at hand, and I know it's not over yet, but in his condition, getting information out of him won't be too hard." Naruto was clearly missing the point of Neji's rant.

"Naruto, what I mean is for now, you shouldn't worry about Sasuke or Sakura. Do what you have to for yourself for now."

"I'm not about doing anything for myself. I live to protect the village. Why do you think I want to be Hokage so badly?"

"Naruto. Have you ever heard of the expression 'Extremes'?" Naruto had heard that expression before, but it was never explained to him, so he really didn't know what it meant.

"What about it?"

"It states that there's always two sides of everything. In your case, one extreme is selfishness, and the other is selflessness. However, it also says, that either side you are on, being too far onto one side, is just as bad as the other." Neji said with his eyes shut. Naruto didn't understand why he would shut his eyes instead of continuing to search Naruto for answers or confusion.

"Naruto, it's truly rare to find somebody as selfless and protective as you, but you're forgetting to protect someone." Naruto still said nothing.

"Yourself. Look at what all this Anbu work has done to you. Shizune and I have noticed it. You're happy that you're in a dangerous situation, you're comfortable, you're familiar, and when you're at home, you feel like you should be anywhere else." Neji's eyes were open now, and Naruto starred into to them angrily.

"How did you know about that?" Naruto spoke quietly, but Neji could tell by his eyes and tone that he was angry and confused.

"We can see it Naruto. Even Shizune can see it. You're trying to hide it, but you're not doing a good job. We saw how you acted on the way here, on the way to Tsuchigakure and in Godaime's office. Naruto, you've let yourself become something I thought you would never become."

"And that is?"

"A tool, Naruto." Naruto remembered Zabuza again. How he told Naruto that Shinobi were tools and users. Naruto didn't want to be either of those. Ever.

"I do what I have to do. If that makes me a tool, than so be it."

"Naruto, you're not listening. You're hearing what you want to hear, and not what I'm trying to say. I know what I'm talking about, don't shut me out. You saved me from hell Naruto. Hell that I once called fate, and now I'm trying to help you and you won't let me."

"You didn't let me help you either, I had to beat sense into you."

"I'm not in a position to do that right now, but I would if I could."Naruto was pissing Neji off more as the conversation went on. Neji tried to stay calm, but it was getting harder. He almost wanted to tell him to forget about it, and not worry about his problems anymore, but Neji was more grateful to Naruto for helping him when they were younger than anybody thought. Neji then realized that Naruto hadn't said anything since his last comment, so he went on.

"It seemed to work pretty well when you did it to me. It showed me that fate isn't written at birth, but is made as one lives. Now I'm trying to show you that you're making your own fate, but you need to chose your fate more wisely." That got Naruto's attention. He snapped his head back up to Neji and gave him a look of shocked understanding. Neji could tell from his eyes that he was starting to know where Neji was going, but still waited for him to say it. There was no point in not letting him finish.

"Naruto, you're a very selfless person, but like I said, it's bad to be in too deep. To be too biased, and too far off to one side, or extreme. You need to take care of yourself and do what you have to for yourself right now. You withdrew from Anbu because it wasn't getting you anywhere. Naruto, I doubt anybody would do for you, what you do for them. Taking care of yourself isn't being selfish. You need to understand that."

How to take care of himself was something Naruto had learned before most adults did, because he was always alone. If he didn't take care of himself, nobody would. But once he found friends and people who cared for him, he started to divert his care to them. In a way they did the same, but taking care of themselves was still the first thing on the list. Understandable. By no means noble, but not uncommon. So Neji was telling him not to try to be different?

"Continue to care for others as you always do Naruto, but put yourself in the picture as well. That's all I have to say."

Neji said as he got up from the tree he was sitting against and walked back towards the cabin, but didn't walk in. He was still watching Naruto with his Byakugan, just to see if what he said would sink in because there really wasn't anything else he could do for him at this point.

Naruto had to agree with Neji. He didn't enlist into Anbu because he wanted to, it was because he thought it was what he had to do to fulfill his word to Sakura. Which he still would, but in his own way, he already took action to do something for himself. He resigned because he was tired of how that kind of work made him feel, and the reputation is was getting him. He had done it for himself, and Neji must've seen it. And that must've been why Naruto didn't feel like himself at home, because he had a different motive this time.

And he felt fine when being on his mission, because he was doing something for the village. Naruto had a very messed up conception of selfishness, but he guessed that this was another smack in the face that he needed, and at least Neji did it before it got too bad.

Naruto didn't feel any different, but change always did take time. He stood up and started to walk to meet with Neji. Once they were standing beside each other, Naruto nodded his head and touched Neji's shoulder. Neji said nothing and his expression didn't change, but his eyes diverted to the door they were standing in front of. Pep talk was over. It was time to do what they came here to do. Time to finish the job. Complete the mission, as soon as the old man woke up.

Neji and Naruto both walked back into the cabin and found Shizune and Arate sitting quietly in a corner, with Uragiri still knocked out in the corner. Naruto didn't move from the door as Neji moved toward another corner of the room. Naruto started to stretch his arms out a bit when he noticed Uragiri starting to stir. Arate stood up and did the same, while Shizune started to concentrate her chakra. Depending on how well Uragiri cooperated with them, she might need to be ready to heal him if the boys went too far. Neji simply continued to watch Uragiri with his Byakugan, focusing on the signature of his chakra.

"Arate." Neji said finally.

"Yeah?"

"Guard the door on the outside."

"Ossu." Arate quietly agreed and did as he was told. This was where the mission needed to succeed, and now wasn't the time for Arate to say exactly how much he wanted to help Neji and Naruto get information out of him. Arate was giddy and happy mostly, but knew when to shut it off. He walked out the door and jumped to a nearby branch. From there he would have a better view of the perimeter and in the case if Uragiri escaped, Arate would have a better chance of ambushing him.

Finally, after some time, Uragiri woke up. His dull colored eyes were open, but it looked like he couldn't see. He blinked often and once he stopped, he looked around and attempted to keep himself calm. He couldn't see around the cabin, since it was all dark, but he did see the bindings on his ankles and wrists, and tried to struggle out of them.

"Don't do that." Neji said from the darkness, and Uragiri still couldn't see him.

"Who's there? Who are you? Let me go." Uragiri said quietly, since screaming wouldn't do him any good.

"If you try to get out of those bindings, I'll reinforce the rope with chakra, so that it'll be impossible for a weak old man like you." Neji said again, ignoring Uragiri's questions. Uragiri could see Neji now, but he didn't look like he was panicked at all.

Uragiri did as Neji said and stopped trying to get out of the bindings. He took another quick look around the room and finally had enough of his sight back to see Naruto standing by the door with his arms crossed over his chest, and Shizune by the window, her palms blue with chakra, ready to either attack, or heal. Worry came to his face now, but not panic. Neji could tell that Uragiri knew that escaping wouldn't be possible, since he had no idea Arate was waiting outside.

"What do you want with me?" He said with a hint of anger in his voice.

"Your cooperation. Answer our questions and this will be over before he it starts."

"What kind of questions?"

"Four years ago, you were listed as a Konoha Anbu and you were given a mission to bring a message to Tsuchigakure no Sato requesting assistance for Konoha if the Otogakure no Ninja attacked the village as Sandaime suspected. The village was attacked and you were supposed to bring the message to the village as your teammates came back to help the village. However, that never happened did it?" Neji said as he walked over to where Uragiri was sitting.

"You're a Hyuuga. You're probably reading everything I do with those eyes aren't you? So it's pointless to lie. You'll see right through it. And with those two standing there watching me, it's pointless to try and get away. I'm in quite the fix here, aren't I?" Neji wasn't about to sit and listen to this old man's rambling. So he grabbed his collar and lifted him onto his feet and looked him in the eye. Neji pulled one hand back and focused his chakra into two of his fingers and thrust his fingers into Uragiri's armpit.

At first Uragiri just shut his eyes and grit his teeth. The pain of the strike was almost nothing, but soon after, he felt an enormous amount of pain in his entire shoulder and armpit.

"I didn't come all way from Konoha to have you asking stupid questions that you don't need me to answer. That was one strike. Next time you don't answer my question, you get two. Now did you or did you not complete your mission as a Konoha Anbu?"

Naruto watched Uragiri struggle with his shoulder. He felt no sympathy for the old man now. He was deliberately being defiant now, and was trying to avoid Neji's questions. Naruto didn't care that within the next few minutes, Uragiri was up to sixty-four strikes for not answering Neji, or telling a lie and having Neji call him on it. Every so often, Uragiri would stare at Naruto in the corner and just not answer Neji at all. Eventually Naruto walked up to Neji and grabbed his shoulder. He cocked his head back towards the door and started to walk outside. Shizune then walked up to Uragiri and tried to wipe his blood soaked chin off, but he kept struggling to get away from her.

"It's in your best interest to let her heal you Jiji. You'll be dealing with me next." Naruto said as he looked over his shoulder at Uragiri, who's eyes nearly came out of his head when he looked into Naruto's eyes. Naruto was angry at this point, since they hadn't gotten any information out of him. But Neji was losing his temper to fast with the stubborn old man.

Neji walked outside and stayed by the door. He looked inside with his Byakugan to make sure that Shizune was safe. Neji hadn't clogged Uragiri's tenketsu just attacked him with Jyuuken basic attacks. Shizune wouldn't need too much time to get him ready for round two.

In Naruto's direction, Neji's Byakugan was seeing that Naruto's chakra was flowing faster and stronger.

"_That old fuck is in for it." _Neji thought as he remembered the reason behind that sudden change in chakra flow.

Within just a few minutes, Neji could tell that Shizune was finished. Naruto walked in first.

"Shizune-neechan, let me talk to him alone." Shizune was about to argue, but after seeing Neji do nothing, she assumed it was ok with him. She walked out and sat at the base of the cabin, waiting for Naruto.

Inside, Naruto stretched out one more time before approaching Uragiri who was catching his breath in the same corner.

"Where's the Hyuuga bastard?"

"It's just you and me this time." Naruto bent down in front of him and looked at his eyes, so he could watch for lies. Uragiri was looking at Naruto's eyes as well, and could tell they weren't the same as when he was guarding the door. They were literally different.

"What the hell are you?" Uragiri said as he scooted back to get away from Naruto.

"Since when does the prisoner ask the questions?"

"You couldn't be."

"Jiji, I'm much more understanding than my teammate. I won't lose it like he did given that you cooperate with me." Naruto didn't expect Uragiri to believe him either, but at least it may lead to Naruto getting answers indirectly.

"Then you aren't who I think you are after all. The man I'm thinking of doesn't care for the lives of others. I'm almost upset that you're not him."

"Let's get started then." Naruto ignored that last remark and didn't care to hear what else he had to say.

"What's the point of all this! That Hyuuga bastard never said why you were given this mission! Why did you come and kidnap me?" Naruto started to understand Neji's frustration, but he tried to calm down.

"Something didn't seem right to Godaime Hokage so she asked us to find out about it. And she told us that you would have some answers. That's all."

"What do I know about what goes on in Tsuchigakure? They don't even know that I was a Konoha Ninja! If they did knew, they would've killed me! They still hold a grudge against them for the losses of the Third Ninja Way regardless of peace time!" Now Naruto was getting somewhere. Indirectly like he thought. Being in Anbu helped him learn the art of interrogation, and this old man wasn't too hard to break. Naruto wasn't expecting that kind of information, but he had to pretend like he wasn't shocked, or Uragiri wouldn't talk. But he caught the old man red handed.

"Really? Then what's this?" Naruto pulled the scroll from the Tsuchikage to Sandaime out of his beige shuriken pouch and unraveled it. He then showed it to Uragiri while still watching him for any signs of lies and shock.

"How could they have sent this if they don't even know that I was a Konoha Ninja?"

"Why don't you tell me?"

"Then I'd be giving you what you want!"

"Jiji, I promised to be patient with you and you're not helping me do that. You've seen this before haven't you? The Tsuchikage didn't write this, did he?" Naruto didn't really mean to lead him on. Leading him on could lead to him giving his false information to cover himself. But the look in Uragiri's eyes gave him away. Naruto was right on.

"I can't say anymore."

"Yes you can, and you will."

"If I say anymore then..." Naruto waited.

"Then what?"

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hides under pillow DON'T KILL ME! It was getting too long and I had to end it. Sorry it's an uber cliff hanger. Review pwwease!


	6. Mission Complete

Omg...I guess this is what we call boredom...chapter 6 is up for you guys! so for all of you who posted for Chapter 5..

Krow - thanks for all your comments, and this story wouldn'tve been continued if you hadn't asked in the first place! so thank you! Ideas keep coming and this is far from over so rest assured. I've got plenty more

Obsessed Kitsune - yes I know Gravitation rules us all and so does Bleach! Enjoy this chapter and thanks for helping me edit some of my one-shots.

Lyfe.exe - thank you! short and to the point! that's how it's done...I wish I could write like that, hahaha!

Mingshun - my first reviewer...thankies!

MadNarutoFan - I hope that the mission didn't bore you. You called it a grand adventure, and I hope it met your expectations. I try...

Jinoshi - Panda...I know where you live...you better keep reviewing! (don't worry people! I'm not a stalker! I know him!)

Slothful - I know that my cliffhangers are annoying...They annoy me too...but you probably more so. I just start writing then I realize "o crap! this is too long!" So I have to cut it short. But thanks for being honest about that. And it always did bug me that Naruto is all about team seven... What about the love for Shikamaru, and Lee and all of them? And I try to update as soon as I can. I remember before I started writing, having to wait months for my favorite fics to be updated and it drove me insane.

Omnikaze - You made a good point though. He wouldn't take the roads to Anbu headquarters. But I kind of wanted to emphasize that his Anbu work is effecting how he's treated among the villagers as well. Sure, doesn't really work, but thanks for pointing it out. And being honest about it.

O-O- hahaha, love the name! thank you! and sorry it's written wrong... doesn't like underscores...I really try to make all my explainations of things easy to understand! And I'm glad it's working!

Leeyiankun - OMG THANK YOU FOR BEING A SASUKE-HATER! I FREAKIN LOVE YOU!

ZeroX1999 - sorry no pairing here...this is not really romance. but thank you for noticing that it is NOT Naru/Saku.

Me - another name to love! hahaha! Thanks for the review. I think I put too much detail in sometimes. Do I overdo it?

JiyuunaTamashii- do you have any suggestions on better format? I understand what you mean...block paragraphs are annoying, but if you could please let me know what would be better! And thanks for being honest and telling me what could be improved.

Fabarati - Akuma no Ketsueki means "Demon of Blood" and you find out why he's called that in this chapter! And it's not exactly what it seems so yay!

Awesome - thank you! another short and to the point review!

GMan - Thanks for your review. this was intended to be a one shot, but I was asked to continue and I couldn't refuse.

Well I think that's all my reviewers...so far anyways. Thank you all! I write for you guys! So enough of my mouth! On to chapter 6!  
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"I can't say anymore."

"Yes you can, and you will."

"If I say anymore then..." Naruto waited.

"Then what?"

Uragiri couldn't help but shed a tear or two while starting to struggle with the ropes around his wrists again.

"Jiji, don't make me reinforce that with chakra. Just cooperate with me and you'll walk out of here safe. We'll bring you back to Konoha and put you under Anbu's protection. I don't know what or who you thought I was, but it's obvious that I'm not like Neji, but I won't sit here and let you have your way."

Compromise. That was one way to get your enemies to talk.

"Give me your word, that nothing will happen to me, then I'll talk. I'll tell you everything."

"Jiji, I'll only promise if you cooperate." Naruto's word wasn't to be given out for anyone anymore. This guy obviously was dragged into something by force, and was afraid for his life. If Uragiri promised to keep his word, then Naruto would keep his.

That was what he got out of Neji's pep talk.

"Fine, I promise, I'll do whatever you want, and I'll tell you whatever you want to know."

"Good. Yakusoku da."

Naruto's word was given, in exchange for the word of another. Naruto didn't fully trust Uragiri, but at least he could get him to talk by promising his safety.

"Now tell me, Jiji. What happened on that mission?"

"I was going to deliver the message, and our team got a messenger bird on the way. It was informing us that village was attacked and they needed all the Anbu they could get. We were all going to turn back but..."

Uragiri paused. Naruto said nothing, and diverted his stare.

"We were attacked." Naruto looked back at him.

"By whom?"

"Otogakure no Ninja. Spies. They had followed us and they killed my teammates."

Naruto believed him, but none of that made sense. How could that be?

"How Jiji? Your teammates are working in the village now!"

"No! Naruto-san! They're Otogakure spies! They're using advanced Henge no Jutsu to stay in the form of my dead teammates to gather information! They're relying it all back to Orochimaru-sama. And it's Anbu work, so he's getting vital and confidential information about the villages plans, internal security and the true identities of all the best undercover ninja!"

It couldn't be. But it made sense. But how? Why didn't anyone notice before?

"Jiji, who are they? And why weren't you killed?"

"The spies are disguised as Kansei Ejiki and Wana Giseisha. But their names are Hibiki Onmitsu and Chakujitsu Tei."

Naruto's eyes went wide with shock. He knew Ejiki and Giseisha. They were teammates of his on several Anbu missions. In fact, they were supposed to be his teammates on the mission that ruined him. But they were transfer at the last minute and he was stationed with several rookie Anbu. Both were killed on that mission. So the sound spies withdrew from the mission at the last minute in order to stay in the village to gain information. And they weren't Ejiki and Giseisha at all.

"Jiji, why didn't they kill you?"

"They were going to hold me hostage at first, in case something went wrong and Konoha over took Oto, but instead they sent me to Tsuchigakure."

"Why?" Everything was coming together, piece by piece. This was the last unanswered question.

"So that I could spy there for them. They want to make a move on that village to rekindle the hatred for Konoha from the Third Ninja War, so that they can start another war against Konoha, but with Tsuchigakure as an ally. That note you're holding was written by one of Orochimaru's subordinates."

So Uragiri was also a sound spy not a spy for Tsuchigakure like they thought. After hearing that Naruto found it hard to trust him, but everything made sense. There was no denying that what he was saying was true. Proof wasn't there, but Naruto could report to Godaime that Ejiki and Giseisha were spies, then arrest and interrogate them. Who knows how many spies were lurking around Konoha?

"Jiji? Are there any other spies you can name?"

"No, if there are more, I don't know of them."

Naruto turned his back and walked to the middle of the room. He grabbed his temples and started to think. There really was no way to prove any of this true, unless Uragiri was brought back to Konoha and helped reveal the spies.

While he was thinking, Naruto heard movement from Uragiri. He turned around and Uragiri desperately came down on Naruto's upper chest with a kunai. He must've been hiding it from his sight the whole time. Arate and Shizune obviously didn't check him for weapons.

Uragiri had cut the bindings on his ankles and wrists, and was up and about. He had ran to the door and opened it, only to find Neji standing in his way. He was still watching from the outside with his Byakugan. He must've seen what happened and wasn't about to let his escape.

"DON'T TOUCH HIM!" Naruto yelled from where he was kneeling. Neji was already in Jyuuken stance and didn't move from it, but also didn't strike. The stance was more of a warning to Uragiri. That strike on Naruto was the proof they needed to show that Uragiri was telling the truth and trying to kill the one person he did tell, then get away and warn Orochimaru.

"He's mine." Naruto said as he stood up and walked towards Uragiri who had just look over his shoulder at Naruto. The fear that was there before was back. Naruto had Kyuubi's red chakra around his body and it was outlining the shape of the fox. His eyes were red and his pupils slits down his eyes. His whiskers had grown thick, his teeth and nails sharp. Naruto then grew Kyuubi's nine tails out of his back so they took physical form as opposed to chakra.

"Red chakra? And nine tails? It is you! You're Konoha no Akuma no Ketsueki! They say that your chakra is red because it's stained with the blood of all the people you killed! And now..." Uragiri just screamed. He couldn't finish his sentence.

"Wait! No! You promised to let me live! You promised to bring me back to Konoha!"

"I did. I promised that in exchange for your cooperation, but you call stabbing me cooperating?" Naruto said calmly, which made Neji and Shizune take a step back. Arate was too dumbfounded to move.

Naruto then concentrated his chakra to his wounded chest and within seconds it made a cracking noise and healed completely. With that Naruto cornered Uragiri, grabbed him by his throat, and lifted him off the ground. Then with his other free hand, he placed it over Uragiri's stomach and sent Kyuubi's red hot chakra through the old man's body.

Uragiri didn't scream, because of Naruto's hand on his throat, cutting off his air supply, but now Naruto's upper body was now covered with the old man's blood, and only a tiny fraction of his own. He wasn't dead yet. Naruto then squeezed his neck harder, thus breaking it.

Uragiri went limp in his grasp and Naruto calmed down. He meant to kill him with one attack. Naruto turned around to find Arate starring at him blankly. His eyes were wide and almost teary. He shouldn't have had to watch that, but better now then never. At least it was a trusted teammate instead of anyone else.

Soon Kyuubi's chakra died down and disappeared into Naruto's stomach. Neji and Shizune said nothing, but walked out of the cabin. Arate didn't move. Naruto walked out of the cabin, but stopped next to Arate. He looked at him with a sad look and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Arate, I had to." Naruto almost whispered.

"I know." Arate said in the same manner.

"Come on. I'm going to burn it down."

"Hai."

Arate followed Naruto out of the cabin and helped him with Katon no Jutsu to burn the cabin down, along with Uragiri. The team stayed there and watched it burn to nothing within about an hour, and also to keep the fire contained.

Once that chore was done, Neji suggested that they start moving back towards the village. The team didn't speak too much to each other on the way back.

They didn't travel too far when Shizune decided that they should rest for the night before moving on. They all agreed and decided that they would wake up at dawn, since it wasn't too late at night since they captured Uragiri. Camp was set up, but only Naruto went to sleep immediately and not even he knew why, but for some reason, he was more tired than he thought, even though controlling Kyuubi's chakra was easy for him now. Whatever the reason, Naruto was too tired to think about it.

Dawn...

Neji, Shizune and Arate were awake and packed up, but none of them woke Naruto. They figured that after what happened the other night, that he needed his sleep. Shizune however, was getting concerned that he was sweating heavily in his sleep.

"Oi, Naruto wake up." Neji said quietly. Naruto didn't stir or wake up.

Arate went up and shook him a bit, then his eyes opened slowly.

"Hey Naruto, pack up. Let's get going." Neji said to him before getting up and helping Shizune with her backpack. Arate stayed by Naruto and watched him.

Naruto grabbed hold of the tree he was sleeping by and stood up. Arate was watching him and utterly confused by his manner. His body was shaking, his eyes were bloodshot and he was sweating.

No sooner than Naruto stood up did he lose his grip on the tree and fell right back down, missing his sleeping bag and collapsing on the ground under him. He wasn't passed out, but barely awake and groaning in irritation.

"Naruto-san! What's wrong! Shizune-san! Neji-senpai!" Arate screamed as he watched his teammate collapse unexpectedly. Neji and Shizune showed up in seconds and were crowding around Naruto.

"Get away, both of you!" Shizune yelled as she unzipped Naruto's jounin jacket and ripped his navy blue shirt open. She had just remembered when Uragiri stabbed Naruto the night before and had a bad feeling.

She was right. And afraid. The wound that Naruto supposedly healed, was poisoned. She looked at the skin over where the wound was and it was swollen, and badly infected. It was a deep wound when it happened and Naruto hadn't healed it right away, so the poison must've already been in his blood stream by the time he did.

"Shizune! What happened?" Arate yelled in terror.

"He's poisoned! We need to get him back to the village fast. It's only been one night and it's effected him this badly. It can't get any worse before I can examine it!"

Neji wasted no time in picking up Naruto and grabbing under his thighs and had Naruto's arms over his shoulders. He immediately started off in the direction of the village. Arate was still shocked and frantic.

"Shizune-san! Can't you heal him now!" Arate screamed, nearly in tears.

"It's too risky. If I get him back to the village I can analyze what the poison is and what's it's attacking. If I try that now without any knowledge, I could do more damage to him."

"Then what did we bring you along for?" Arate was losing himself, he didn't understand why Shizune couldn't heal him now. There had to be something she could do!

"Arate don't start! Your screaming isn't helping Naruto, just shut up and keep moving!" Neji screamed at him from the front of the team.

"Shizune-san? There isn't anything you can do for now!"

"Not until we get back to the village!" Arate wasn't comforted at all by Neji's rushed and flustered manner or Shizune's inability to do anything to help him. It just made him panic. He started to run faster until he caught up with Neji and couldn't help himself.

"Neji-senpai. Please let me carry him." Arate then broke down. The tears came down and his face was of obvious worry and panic. Neji didn't think that giving Naruto to him when he was acting this way was a good idea, but what could he do?

"Take him from me." Arate's eyes lit up a bit and he ran behind Neji and grabbed Naruto, who was still awake, from him and positioned him in an easy way to carry.

"Naruto-san, stay awake." Arate whispered to himself, wondering if Naruto heard or not.

Naruto did hear, but couldn't make out what he was saying. The poison had spread a lot already and it was clouding his senses badly. He could barely see, hear and speaking was out of the question. He couldn't breathe as well and Arate noticed it. Naruto's chest was moving, but softly and rapidly, as if he was having trouble.

Arate knew there was nothing he could do for Naruto if he stopped running, but instead ran his fastest. Soon he was far ahead of Shizune and Neji, since he was far faster than both of them which is why he insisted on carrying Naruto.

Shizune was about to call out to Arate and tell him to wait for them, but she caught herself. Why stop him? He's the fastest and Naruto needs treatment immediately. It only made sense to let him go ahead while she and Neji tried to keep up.

Neji had given Naruto to Arate forgetting about Arate's speed. He had turned him over because he wasn't about to worry about Arate having a fit because he was helpless. He was proving pretty useful now, and once Arate was only visible to him with Byakugan, Neji felt almost relieved.

"_Take care of him Arate." _Neji thought as he watched him. Shizune didn't say anything as she lost sight of Arate.

Arate knew that he could've gotten to Tsuchigakure in about a day flat at his fastest, and now he was a little bit more than half way there since they left from the cabin the night before. Arate stopped worrying about Naruto dying and just focused on getting him to treatment convincing himself that he would be able to save him.

Back in Konoha...

Naruto opened his eyes as much as he could, but he could barely stay awake and opening his eyes didn't mean he could see. His vision was clouded and his head was throbbing with pain. All he could tell for sure was that he had gotten his sense of hearing back, because he heard voices around him.

"Please, let me care for him."

"No, that's not a good idea. He's not ready yet."

"What's there to be ready for! He's poisoned and he needs to be taken care of until he's ready to go home and recover on his own!"

"Actually, the poison was extracted and taken care of. The effects of it are what needs healing now and I would rather take care of that myself."

"Please, I beg of you both. The damage to his body is nothing I can't handle." This person sounded like they were in tears now.

"Don't make me repeat myself. I already said no. Besides, from what Neji told me, the traitor, Hangyakusha Uragiri only spoke to Naruto. Once he wakes up, I need to immediately have him tell me what he knows."

"What if the poison effected his memory?"

"Uragiri is dead now, so we'd have no way of knowing anything if that's the case."

"I wouldn't worry about that. This is Naruto after all. He's the greatest person I've ever known. He'll walk out of this fine, I know it. I just want to help make sure of that." The same person who was in tears a moment ago said that. Naruto couldn't recognize the voice though. All he knew was that there were three people in the room.

"If you're so confident that he'll be fine, then he doesn't need your help."

"What do you have against me caring for him?"

"It's nothing against you! It's just what he would want!"

"You don't know half of what I know about Naruto! He would want me over anybody else!"

"That's enough out of you! You're lucky if I let you speak to him before he's ready to go home. And being that it's Naruto, once he's awake, he'll only need to be here for about a two or three days."

"If you won't let me care for him then you have to let me speak to him at least!" This person was sounding desperate at this point, and definitely female.

"We'll see how well you behave before he wakes up."

"Don't treat me like a little girl, Tsunade-sama." That was one out of three.

"Tsunade no Baachan?" Naruto said quietly. He still couldn't see the room too clearly, but he felt a hand on his forehead soon after.

"Go to sleep Naruto, you'll be ok now." Tsunade told softly.

"Kansei Ejiki and Wana Giseisha are spies, Tsunade no Baachan." Naruto said before falling asleep.

"Shizune."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama."

"Order the Anbu Captains to have Kansei Ejiki and Wana Giseisha turned over to the interrogation squad immediately. Have it done secretly. Have them take no action until we can get more information out of Naruto."

"Ossu!" Shizune went on her way without another word.

"Sakura. Since word got out to the ninja that Naruto resigned from Anbu and is now in the hospital, the waiting list to see him when he wakes up is insanely long. If you want to talk to him, then you should put your name on it soon." Tsunade was a bit more sentimental than most people thought, so Sakura took advantage of her sudden kindness.

"Thank you, Tsunade-sama."

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Well there's chapter 6 for you guys! I hope you liked! Please review!love for all my readers!


	7. Miserable Reunion

Well, it took me long enough (too long really) but here's chapter seven for you! Enjoy!

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Naruto woke up and his headache was considerably better, but still there. He attempted to sit up and stretch a bit, but he was stopped by a nurse who was checking his pulse, blood pressure and breathing. He must've woken up because of her.

"Please don't move around yet, Naruto-san. The poison was extracted from your body, but the damage to your muscles and organs is still healing. You need to relax."

"Sure." Naruto said as he laid back down and was feeling pretty bored.

"How are you feeling in terms of pain, Naruto-san?"

"A light headache is all."

"Would you like a pain killing medicine for that?"

"No, if it gets worse maybe."

The nurse just nodded and continued to take notes on a clipboard she was holding. Within a few minutes she was through with her report and dismissed herself. Just what Naruto wanted.

Ignoring her altogether, he got up out of bed and attempted to stand. Once his bare feet touched the cold tiles of the floor, and he applied some of his weight, he felt it.

The poison had effected him worse than he thought. His leg muscles were too weak to carry him and his arms could barely keep him sitting straight. The worst had to be his chest, where he was cut. Naruto got back onto the bed, with just as much trouble, and looked for the wound. It was bandaged, and from the feel of it, loosely so that it could be removed often for treatment.

After a few minutes the nurse came back. This time she didn't say anything, but seemed to have a different paper on the clipboard. Naruto spoke before she did.

"Oi, tell me what you know."

"So far, Naruto-san, the poison had been removed from your body, but the damage retains. The poison has been identified and seen by our medics before, so we're working on making another sample to cure the remaining poison in your body. But it's so little that your life is in no danger at all."

The nurse seemed a little bit too jumpy for Naruto to believe everything she said. But he felt more at ease when the door opened behind her and Tsunade stepped in the room, with a bright smile.

The young nurse started to explain that she had everything under control and was going to turn in the report on his condition in a moment, but Tsunade insisted on doing it herself. She dismissed the young nurse to another duty and they were left alone in the room.

"I have more to tell you, Tsunade no Baachan."

"Yes you do. I asked Arate when he showed up here with you, he didn't know anything. He seemed too traumatized anyway."

"What about Neji and Shizune-neechan?"

"They arrived back several hours later. They could at least tell us what happened to you, but they couldn't give a report on the mission. They said that Uragiri only spoke to you. What did he tell you, and is there any proof of it being true?"

"The only concrete proof that I can offer is the fact that he tried to kill me. I'd like to have permission to go through the Anbu files again Tsunade no Baachan. I have a feeling I can confirm truth in what he told me somewhere in those files. Either the information won't be accurate, possibly altered, or something will be missing."

Tsunade didn't like what Naruto was asking for. It would mean having him enlist himself back into Anbu at a desk job, giving him authorization to only go through so many files. There would still be some that he wouldn't be able to examine.

"Naruto, you know what I would have to do in order to give you permission to do something like that? Are you willing to go through that?"

"Tsunade no Baachan, the two men whose names I gave you before, what did you do with them?" Naruto completely ignored her question. He figured that if they were able to expose the two spies that Uragiri spoke of, then the interrogation squad could possibly confirm Uragiri's information from those two.

"I secretly had them escorted to protection under the interrogation squad until we were able to get more information from you about what Uragiri said."

"I don't care what I have to do to get authorization to examine the files, but if the information that Uragiri gave me wasn't true, then we'd be right back where we started, with something that just doesn't seem right. I don't want the village to take action over invalid information."

"You won't even tell me what he said will you?"

"I know you too well. You're too quick to get angry and you make rash decisions. I promise once I confirm whether what I know is true or not, I'll tell you everything."

"What files do you need to look through?" Tsuande said, finally giving in to Naruto's request.

"Everything. All of them."

Tsunade sighed. She could easily authorize Naruto to look through the files, but she didn't like being uninformed and blind about this whole situation.

"Once you're out of the hospital and completely healed, you can start searching."

"Thanks."

"For now, there's somebody who wants to see you, and she has some things that some guests left for you."

"What guests?"

"While you were asleep a large number of guests came by and left you some get-well gifts."

Naruto didn't expect anyone to come and see him, or even know he was out of Anbu. Maybe a guest or two, but "a large number"?

Before he could think anymore, Tsunade left the room and was talking to somebody outside the door. Naruto didn't recognize the other person's voice, but figured it had to be somebody he knew. He turned around and adjusted his pillow so that it was against the metal bars that made up the headboard of the bed and attempted again to use his arms to sit up against it, since he was tired of lying down. He wasn't having any luck though, but that didn't stop him from trying.

Eventually the door opened again and the last person Naruto expected to visit him, did. Sakura smiled so fakely that even Naruto could see it was forced. She walked over and helped him sit up against the pillow, then pulled up a chair and sat with him.

"Stop it." Naruto said, with an almost deadly look in his eye.

"What?"

"Don't smile if you're not happy."

"You always smiled if you weren't happy."

"And I was miserable because of it." Sakura couldn't argue that. But it was hard to tell when Naruto's smiles were fake, because he smiled so brilliantly. She'd think back then he was just a happy little kid because he could do anything he wanted and had no parents to discipline him. She would've never thought that the reason she thought he was happy, was really the reason why he was miserable. Because he was alone.

"Are you miserable now?" Stupid question, but Sakura couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Not really."

"I meant despite being in the hospital, and being poisoned."

"Isn't that enough to make somebody miserable?"

"Everybody but you. You were never miserable just because you were hurt. You'd always just get right back up and try again."

"That's hard to do when you literally can't, you know." Naruto really didn't know why he was being sarcastic with her, but she really wasn't the first person Naruto would've wanted to see right after being hospitalized, and you can't blame a man for being cranky if he's poisoned, can't move, and is in pain.

"That never stopped you before. You always found some way to keep going. You never gave up."

"Who said anything about giving up? My mission was completed, and now I'm waiting to start another." Naruto didn't feel it was necessary to tell Sakura that he would be enlisting back into Anbu in order to finalize this mission and confirm the information he was given. She would only give him a hard time about it and frankly, the last thing he needed right now was something else to worry about.

"You know, Hinata had asked Neji to keep tabs on you, just to make sure you were ok while you were in Anbu."

"He told me."

"Did he tell you that I was always asking Hinata to tell me what she knew, since I didn't have the authority to look at Anbu mission status reports?"

"And I doubt she told you anything, because by the rules, Neji wasn't supposed to say anything to her to begin with."

"No she didn't tell me anything, which only made me worry. But I feel so much more at ease now that you were assigned back to Kakashi-sensei's team. He's been getting moved around so much lately, usually as commander of special missions."

"Have you been keeping contact with him?"

"Well, no. I saw him earlier today. He had heard you were back and hospitalized, and he visited. I spoke to him then." Naruto sighed. Why didn't they wake him when everybody came?

"Naruto?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you upset with me about something?"

"Upset's not the right word. Distrusting better describes how I've been feeling about you for quite sometime, and the small talk isn't making it better."

"What did I do? Why?"

"If I have to tell you then that makes it worse. You don't even remember what you promised me, do you?"

"Naruto, Sasuke isn't coming back. It took me a long time, but I finally excepted that, and then it took me a long time to forget about it. I remember our promise but I don't expect that of you anymore. If that's what you've been doing all this time, then that's a shame."

"I made you a promise and I intend to keep it, but I only promised to bring him back to the village." Sakura listened and tried not to seem worried. She started to regret saying what she said just a moment ago because she knew that Naruto would keep his word, and now, she felt he would still keep it, and hoped he wasn't about to say what she thought he would say.

"Leave now, I have paper work to fill out."

"If you think that this mission has something to do with Sasuke, then I'll ask to be assigned to your team."

"I told you this mission was completed, and it's none of your business. I don't want you on my team, nor do I want your help."

"You're going to kill him, aren't you?"

"Isn't that what ninja do to A-rank criminals of their villages?" Naruto was right, and Sakura was just a bit surprised that he was more bound to his duty as a ninja than his promise to her.

Outside the room, Neji sat and waited for Sakura to walk out, watching the inside of the room with his Byakugan. He could tell what was being said by reading their lips, and smiled to himself. It seemed that he got through to Naruto after all. He got up and walked in the room, hoping that would get Sakura to leave, because it was clear that Naruto was through talking with her.

"Excuse us Sakura. Naruto and I need to talk." Sakura wasn't about to try and argue with Neji so that she could get more time to speak with Naruto, Neji would win either by using her own thoughts and feelings to talk her down, or by force. Neither option would be pleasant, so she figured to let them alone for now. She walked out of the room and before shutting the door, rolled a cart in with all the gifts, cards, flowers, and other things that all his guests left behind while he was asleep. With that she walked out. Naruto didn't pay much attention to the gifts that at the moment, since he needed to speak with Neji anyways.

"Just the man I was hoping to speak to."

"I know, I could tell. I was watching your conversation with Sakura." Neji lowered his head, almost not wanting to see Naruto's expression.

"Was I too harsh with her?"

"Does it matter?"

"Not right now it doesn't."

"What did you want to speak to me about?"

"I wouldn't tell Tsunade no Baachan anything about what Uragiri told me, because I know her too well. She'll make harsh actions based on information that we have no evidence to back. I don't want the village to make blind actions against someone like Orochimaru. That will just give him leeway to attack us when we're not prepared. Neji, I wish you had been in the room when I spoke to Uragiri, because you would've been able to tell if he was lying better than me."

"Tell me everything."

"Uragiri said that he and his two teammates were sent to Tsuchigakure to deliver a message to request help from the Tsuchikage, but when they received notice that the village was being attacked, the team agreed to split. One man would continue to deliver the message while the others returned to help the village fight off the Otogakure no ninja. But once they made this decision, they were attacked by Orochimaru's ninja and his teammates were killed. They sent Uragiri to Tsuchigakure to hide out and spy for them there, because they planned to rekindle the hatred the Earth Country had for the Fire Country and start another war. So for the past few years, Uragiri had been relying information about Tsuchigakure's actions to Otogakure no ninja. To cover up for Uragiri though, they pretended that he was killed by the Anbu of that village so that we wouldn't suspect anything. All this time though, the two ninja that killed Uragiri's teammates have been under advanced Henge no Jutsu and spying on our village under the names of the two ninja they killed."

"So they infiltrated Konoha under the Anbu. Their spies have access to every secret mission status report and special movement information that the village makes. Orochimaru has his spies right where he needs them."

"Just about."

"And there's no proof of this other than the fact that Uragiri said it directly to you?"

"If you count that he tried to kill me and run away as probable cause."

"Damn it. That's not enough."

"Neji, I'm going to enlist back into Anbu once I'm out of here. I got the permission from Tsunade no Baachan to have a desk job."

"You're going to search Anbu's confidential files for proof?"

"Not just proof, anything else. Anything else that may be linked back to that mission, or Uragiri. Anything else that doesn't seem right to me. The more I find the better, but I can't do it alone." Naruto hung his head this time. He couldn't be more ashamed of himself for asking this of Neji, but he couldn't trust anyone else with this mission or the information they got from it. Besides, with Neji's insight, it wouldn't be hard for him to find loopholes in reported information. Neji got up and walked to the door of the room, opened it, but didn't walk out.

"Rest up Naruto. By the time you're back on your feet, I'll have the paper work filled out so we can start."

"Neji, I'm going to resign again immediately after we find what we're looking for."

"Oh, yes you will. I'll make sure of it." Neji finished as he walked out of the room without looking back.

Naruto let out his breath and was grateful that wasn't any harder than it was. In fact, Neji completely understood, so it wasn't hard at all. Perhaps he has every intention of carrying out this mission until the very end as Naruto does. In which case, Naruto would make sure that he healed up quickly so that he can begin to solve the rest of the mission's loopholes as soon as possible.

For now though, Naruto couldn't move and could just barely think straight. He decided that he was useless until he was well rested and at least back on his feet.

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My apologies for this taking 3 or so months. I had to rewrite it several times before I was happy with it, and I wanted to make this chapter longer but I really didn't want to make any of you wait any longer. I hope you liked it, please comment...


	8. Time is of the Essence

Alright then, after quite a long period of absense (longer than I would've liked) I have returned! Sorry for the wait everybody. I was having this awful case of writer's block, but now I've got where I want things to continue on. Sorry this chapter is much shorter than the rest, but for now I think it gets the point of where the fic is going across. But now I can continue writing and hopefully soon finish ANK, and then ITTP (my Greed fic). Alright enough of my mouth, I hope you all like chapter 8.

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The next day was quite uneventful for Naruto, hence all it consisted of was being pestered by Tsunade and the other nurses to stay in bed and not move around. He hated having to stay in bed and wanted to walk all the damage on his body off. By the end of the day the nurses were on the verge of strapping him to his bed and knocking him out to keep him there, because knowing him, he would miraculously find some way to get out of the bonds.

Thankfully, it didn't come to that. By the middle of the next day, Naruto wasn't having too much trouble walking around and Tsunade gave him the OK to go home and recover on his own. As much as Naruto wanted to get out of the hospital, he wasn't looking forward to going home either. But anywhere was better than being with all those annoying nurses who don't understand a thing about his body, and thus, could do nothing for him.

As he walked down Konoha's streets he noticed that he was being starred at, but not with fear or terror as it was before. It was more or less curious stares. Curious as to why he's walking around in the daytime, instead of lurking about in the night as Anbu do. Whatever the case was, at least they weren't afraid of him, but he had to admit that last time, he was covered in blood, and half the villagers who know what he is would back away from that. This time, he had a slight limp, so one would say that there was nothing to be afraid of.

Putting that aside, Naruto started to think about what kind of loopholes to look for in the mission report files. He realized that whatever they were, they had to be something small that the Anbu desk workers would overlook. Hopefully he and Neji wouldn't be fooled by them.

Then he thought of Orochimaru's spies and wondered if keeping them under the interrogation squad was a good idea. If they didn't report with Orochimaru, he would probably realize it and possibly have them killed or in which case, they may have special orders to keep themselves undiscovered. In any situation, whatever proof they hoped of finding to reveal them, they needed to find it fast. Naruto didn't have time, now that he thought about it, to sit around and wait for himself to be healed. He was well enough to walk, so he was well enough to sit and look through some papers. He couldn't wait for Neji either. If he went and started now, at least they'd have something done once Neji started.

So instead of turning left to his apartment complex, he turned right to Anbu HQ. It was strange how eerily familiar this place still was to him even though he was happy to have been out for a few days. When Naruto went to the sign-in sheet, it turned out his name was already there, or still there. He wasn't sure if they hadn't removed his name or if Tsunade already made arrangements for him. Nobody seemed surprised to see him there, so he assumed his name was never removed.

"Naruto," Naruto turned around and saw the regular desk Anbu.

"Godaime Hokage-sama has you in the third office. She had us put the file master key in there for you, just remember to sign out the files you take."

"Thanks." Naruto began walking away.

"You weren't supposed to start for a few days. Are you sure you're well enough?"

"I'm not taking any missions, just desk work. I'm well enough for that."

"I see. I read up about the mission. Hyuuga Neji was able to put in a semi-decent report, but it's not closed just yet. Good luck."

"I need it, thanks." Just that tiny conversation was enough to lift Naruto's spirits just a bit.

As Naruto entered his new 'office' he grabbed the master key and headed straight to the filing room. He signed in and pulled out every mission report ever submitted by Hangyakusha Uragiri, Kansei Ejiki and Wana Giseisha. Then pulled the most recent updates on their Ninja registration profiles.

With all that in hand, Naruto walked back to his 'office' and started with Uragiri. Naruto remembered Tsunade saying that his great grandfather was a merchant from Tsuchigakure, however, Uragiri had worked a desk job during the third ninja war on request. That much wasn't a surprise.

But just in Uragiri's profile, Naruto didn't seem to find anything worth questioning. Naruto even started looking through a list of other ninja that Uragiri had worked with and found out that Ejiki and Giseisha weren't regular teammates of his. Anbu teams usually didn't stay together for long since people were always rotating and most of the time specially selected.

Hokage's office...

"What did you call me here for, Godaime?"

"I'm withdrawing you from missions for the time being and putting you under a special Anbu assignment."

"Why?"

"You're usually not one to ask so many questions."

"I want to know what you're getting me into."

"I'm sure word has gotten around that Naruto has withdrawn from Anbu."

"And...?"

"His first mission left him with reason to believe that Orochimaru has spies still left in the village from the invasion of Konoha from four years ago. As we speak, Naruto is at home, recovering so that he can search the Anbu mission status files for evidence of the information he gathered to be true."

"Go on."

"Well, as we both know, Naruto may be experienced, more skilled and sharper, but he's still Naruto. He can search those files all he wants for anything suspicious, and I doubt he'll find anything. Naruto doesn't know how to read between the lines like some other ninja can."

"You want me to look with him."

"Exactly why I picked you."

"It's not like you to doubt Naruto."

"I'm only trying to help him."

"I hope you know, that unlike Naruto, I won't have any clue of what to look for."

"Naruto and Neji will fill you in on what they know."

"I have no choice in this matter, do I?"

"I wasn't negociating this with you from the start. It's an order."

"I suppose trying to get out of it anymore will just be even more troublesome then. I'll go meet up with Neji now, and start making sense out of things in Anbu HQ. I assume you've already made the necessary accomdations for us all?"

"Yeah, it's all taken care of."

"At least I won't have anymore missions, or have to fight with anymore women for the time being. This may not be so bad then."

Within the next few hours, Naruto was finding vital information about Uragiri and the other spies he identified, but nothing he thought would lead him back to Orochimaru. Typical. If it was something obvious, then it would've been noticed before. Naruto kept three words in mind as he searched. _"Underneath the underneath." _Naruto figured he'd eventually find something that didn't make sense or didn't fit together, but it wouldn't come out of the blue, so he needed to concentrate. It didn't surprise him when he read that Sandaime did specially chose the team to deliver the message to Tsuchigakure. He chose ninja that didn't specialize with fighting, but stealth.

"Orochimaru must've stationed them to be followed, or had a team of spies watch over Anbu HQ to watch for any special missions against him."

All this time, Naruto didn't realize how badly he really was injured. The poison had been extracted, but there were side effects. One in particular that was being a nuisance to him. Drowsiness. Even after numerous cups of coffee, Naruto didn't feel anymore awake, only wasted energy on bathroom breaks. Eventually he gave in, and passed out, thinking that a nap would do him good, and he would be in better shape to continue once he woke up.

Some time later Shikamaru and Neji walked into the office where Naruto was napping and both had to cover their mouths to stop from laughing. Naruto was getting back his old, lazy, but hasty habits faster than they thought. They both composed themselves quickly and were about to wake Naruto before they noticed all the files on the desk he had been searching through. Shikamaru picked them up and started to organize them, when Neji noticed something about two pictures Shikamaru had picked up

"Look." Neji pointed to one of the pictures of Ejiki. There was a scar on his neck.

"What about it?"

"That's not there in this photo." Neji said as he pointed to photo that had the following day's date printed on it.

"It could just be a scar he got on a mission." Neji looked through more pictures and found that only pictures after the invasion of Konoha showed Ejiki with any scars. Visible scars, in multiple places, cleverly hidden, but easily visible with Byakugan.

"Shikamaru, see if there are any files of this man being treated by any medics about frequent lacerations."

Shikamaru took a few minutes and looked under the files that contained medical records for Anbu staff.

"Ever since the invasion of Konoha, he's always been treated by the same doctor. I'll look under Giseisha too."

Neji wasn't surprised when Shikamaru saw that Giseisha had also been being treated by the same doctor for the same time period.

"What does it mean?" Shikamaru asked, not looking for an answer, but for an opinion.

"It could mean a lot of things."

"What could?"

Naruto woke up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, stetched and yawned.

"Sorry Neji, the anti-poison causes drowsiness, and I wanted to get started...Shikamaru!"

"Oi, Naruto."

"What're you doing here?"

"Godaime asked me to help you two with searching for plausible evidence of Orochimaru having spies in the village. Don't bother with the details, Neji told me everything already."

"Well, since we're all here, why don't we get started. I haven't really found anything yet but.." Neji cut Naruto off.

"Naruto, how long have you been in here?"

Naruto glanced at the clock.

"Since about four, and I fell asleep around seven. Why?"

"Naruto, Shikamaru and I were here for about twenty minutes and we already have a lead on someone who might be helping Otogakure spies."

Neji and Shikamaru started quietly laughing, but the joke went right over Naruto's head.

"What did you find?" Naruto was serious, so the others quit joking. Shikamaru didn't want to be the one to do this, but he didn't have a choice.

He handed Naruto Ejiki and Giseisha's medical records and Naruto read them off to himself, and eventually, put them down and started to put away all of the files he had taken out that were useless. Reading them wasn't a complete waste of time though. He gathered information that he would need to help interrogate them.

"Thanks you guys, really. I can take it from here. I'll let you know when I begin interrogating Ejiki and Giseisha, I'll need you both for that."

"We'll continue researching just to safe, and we'll notify Godaime." Shikamaru said before shutting the door.

Neji and Shikamaru left as Naruto put his head in his hands and started focusing on his breathing to avoid escalating things. That's all he needed to know to prove that they were spies. Sure. It wasn't concrete proof, and yes, he was still working off of a hunch. But that wasn't ignorable. It was what it was. At least he knew this much.

He could easily interrogate this person. He could get them to tell him anything. They will hate him for it, but what needed to be done, needed to be done. That was that. He got up and headed back to the hospital. The secretary immediately recognized him.

"Naruto-san? What's wrong now? Too much pain?" Naruto completely ignored her question.

"I have special permission from Godaime Hokage to investigate hospital confidential files. Please have somebody show me to the holding room for them."

The nurse gave Naruto that, "yeah right" look.

"Just a moment."

Naruto couldn't get annoyed. She was doing her job. To her it seemed that this guy who just left the hospital a few hours back already has a special Anbu assignment from the Hokage when he should be resting. She was double-checking. When she returned she motioned for Naruto to follow her. She led him to a room filled with numerous desks and file cabinets. When the nurse turned to leave Naruto called to her.

"Don't go. I only need this file here." Naruto said as he showed her that he has already pulled the file he was looking for and that he wanted her to lock up. She did so and they went their separate ways once in the hall. Naruto took a seat in a waiting room and quickly flipped through the file. He found what he wanted.

A list of all the people this doctor frequently treated. He checked the dates on all the treatments. They matched the fact he was working off of perfectly. He just needed a confession. He was expecting to find more than just Ejiki and Giseisha, but luckily, it calmed and disturbed him to see that they were being treated on request. The rest were probably just those returning for frequent therapy or she was assigned to them. He would ask nonetheless. Just to be on the safe side.

After just a few minutes, Naruto had been tired of reading and hid the file under his jacket, and walked around looking for the doctor in question. Aimlessly searching was stupid and wasted time that Naruto couldn't afford to waste. He found a doctor and approached him calmly.

"Excuse me, sensei." Naruto said politely.

"Yes?"

"Would you know where I can find Haruno Sakura?"

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I was asked by a certain reviewer once that perhaps a translation for the Japanese that I use would make the fic a little less confusing so, here we go.

Tsuchigakure - Village of Hidden Rock

Otogakure - Village of Hidden Sound

Sensei - Doctor/Teacher. In this case doctor.

And that's about it for this chapter. Hope to have 9 up soon. :D thanks to all for your patience!


	9. Monday

Wow, it's been four months since my last update...I'm a terrible person. I'm sorry guys. While I'm here, I'd like to thank ArmorOfGeddon for pointing out that I made a giant goof in my Japanese. Naturally I'd go through and correct everything, but all my documents are on my laptop...which doesn't work for internet now. So one day, when I'm not totally lazy, I'll go through and do the whole copy/paste crapola and fix them. Sorry guys...I'm retarded.

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"Would you know where I can find Haruno Sakura?"

"Last I heard, she was stationed on the third floor. Primary orders were assigned to room 307."

"Thanks sensei."

With that, Naruto made for the stairs and started thinking about how to approach her with this. He still believed that it would be easy to interrogate her, but how could he do it without her hating him later for it? He couldn't. There was no way. Sakura never could keep a secret, so he was sure that if she played dumb that he could catch it and nail her. Get her to fess up. She has to know more than just the fact that those two were spies. She has to know about others, or inside plans. Naruto wanted to think that she wasn't in as deep as Shikamaru and Neji might think.

Room 307. Naruto opened the door a pinch and peeked in through the crack. She was in there alright. Busy. But she was there. Naruto knocked on the door and saw Sakura walking over to answer it. He got away from the door and stood up straight. He didn't want to seem like he was eavesdropping, or that might make Sakura think he knows something. Sakura pushed the door open the rest of the way and looked up at him with a sad look in her eye. However Naruto knew exactly how to get to her, and started his interrogation with a wide grin, from ear to ear, showing all his teeth, and squinting his blue eyes shut.

"Hey, Sakura-chan! What's that face for? I came to visit you!" It would take a while for Naruto to forgive himself for this, but it seemed to be working.

"You should still be in bed Naruto. Besides, I thought you were mad at me."

"Aww, you know I can't stay mad at you Sakura-chan. And, well, you were right earlier. I was just grouchy, I'm sorry."

"No, Naruto, I'm the one who should be sorry. I forced you to make a promise to me that has ruined you. I'll never forgive myself for that." Sakura said, getting teary eyed. Naruto saw this as a great opportunity. A crying female. They run their mouths like he wouldn't believe. It would be easy to get her to confess now, but he had to keep up his act as well. He put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her back into the empty room where she was filling out paperwork earlier.

"Don't cry Sakura-chan. You'll make me cry." Sakura sniffed a few times, then wiped her eyes with a tissue. Sakura wanted Naruto to hug her, and tell her it was all ok, and that he wouldn't hurt himself anymore for her. But he just kept holding her by her shoulders, which almost said that he was being cautious.

"Naruto? Why won't you hug me?" Naruto knew why. He didn't want to touch her. And he didn't really want her touching him either.

"You won't punch me out, will you?" Naruto said, with a fake strained and worried face. But Sakura couldn't see through it. Sakura laughed and wiped her face on a few more tissues.

"It's not like it would do much to you anymore. You're too strong for that now." Sakura said giggly.

"Well, it's not everyday that the future Hokage is pummeled by a girl, huh? But yeah, check this out Sakura-chan! I've got something to tell you."

Sakura sat down on the chair in the room and was ready to listen. Naruto pulled up a chair and sat in front of her. He needed to maintain eye contact the whole time. He wasn't Neji, but he was told once that his eyes could see things that even the Byakugan can't. It was worth watching out for.

"I think I've got a lead on Orochimaru! And if we find Orochimaru, we can find Sasuke!"

"What lead? How did you find it? Who is it?" Lots of questions. She could be either trying to cover herself, or wondering if she's involved.

"Well, it's not really a who, it's a where! We found out where he could be hiding. Chances are, Sasuke's with him! They're moving, and Anbu plans on gathering a large group to infiltrate his rendevous point. If we can ambush them, then we'll be able to overpower them and take Sasuke back by force! And probably get rid of Orochimaru for good. Baachan intends to get just about every Anbu in on this! All of Konoha's forces combine have got to be enough to take him down! What do you think?"

"You're not taking part in this mission, are you, Naruto?"

"Well, duh! I'm the one that got the confession out of the Jiji from Iwagakure, so I've got to lay out the maps and coordinate the whole thing. I'm really excited! I've been the captain before, but not for a big mission like this! Think about it! If this mission is successful, we take out Orochimaru, get Sasuke back, and wipe out Otogakure! But, this mission is top secret, so I really shouldn't be telling you this. I'm going to have to ask you to keep this between us, ok? Nobody outside of Anbu is supposed to know."

Sakura grabbed Naruto's hands and looked him straight in the eye with a look that Naruto could never say no to when they were younger.

"Naruto, I think you should let somebody else coordinate this. Maybe Shikamaru. That's his specialty. I think that for a big mission like this, it would be more beneficial. I don't mean to be a downer, but focus and concentration were always your biggest weaknesses, so you need somebody that is able to focus and see opportunity in everything."

Naruto didn't want to force a confession out of her. It was only going to work if she came clean and said it for herself, but it was looking to be as he feared. She was trying to get him to withdraw from the mission for his own safety. If all of Anbu was involved, that would mean that the two spies that he identified would be involved. In which case, they would alert Otogakure to counterattack and sabotage Konoha. Naruto figured it was only her intension to have Naruto pull out of the mission, because protesting against the mission altogether would be too suspicious.

"But Sakura-chan, if I can pull this off, then this'll be an awesome way to prove to everybody that I'm not just a clumsy kid anymore. I really am a shinobi and I can be the greatest Hokage ever. This kind of opportunity is just what I've wanted since I was a little kid. With this, will come more high-stake missions, and if I can take them all, I'll be chosen as next Hokage in no time! It's everything I've ever wanted and it's all being handed to me on a silver plater! I can't wait to tell Kakashi-sensei! I want his help with mission plans anyway." Naruto said with excitement in his voice, that made Sakura hold onto his hands even tighter.

"Naruto, please trust me. Don't do this. There are other ways to prove yourself. This is too dangerous. You remember four years ago when they attacked our village during the Chuunin exam? Otogakure is stronger than you think. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Sakura-chan, they had the Sunagakure shinobi helping them. And even then, Konoha was outnumbered and we still won the battle and the war. Besides Otogakure is a tiny village, so without the Kazekage helping them, we'll outnumber and outclass them. This is guaranteed to work! There's no doubt about it!"

"Naruto, do you love me?"

Naruto almost broke his act when he heard that question. He knew what she was trying to do. She was trying to manipulate him. She saw the Naruto she remembered, and thought he was a weak-minded child, trying to use the fact that he liked her to get him to do whatever she wanted. But he saw through her plan.

"Of course Sakura-chan, do you love me?"

"Of course I do. You're my best friend."

"Then why don't you want me to go through with this? This is all I've ever wanted. The chance to show everybody that I'm not what destroyed this village years ago. The chance to show everybody that I love this village and will fight for it too. And if this demon is truly a part of my being, then I'll atone for what I've done. I'll pay the village back somehow for what it's done."

"You don't have to atone for what that monster did. You haven't done anything wrong! You aren't Kyuubi!"

Naruto was making her break down. Perfect.

"Sakura-chan, if it's ever taken out of my body, I'll die. You know that. I am Kyuubi. Kyuubi is me. I need it to live. That makes it a part of me. This village suffered so much death and loss because of that monster. Because of me. Ever since I found out about it, the guilt of that crime against this village has made me suffer as well."

"Naruto! All this happened before you were even born! You can't be held responsible for that! You don't have to repay this village by conducting suicide missions and saying that it's your honor to give your life! If they can't see how great you are already, then they don't deserve to have you as their Hokage!"

"Yes, Sakura-chan. This is a suicide mission. But with me as the captain, it might not have to be that way. I know I can do this! I know I can lead Konoha's best against Orochimaru. If I can lead Anbu to victory over Orochimaru, then it will show everybody that I've got what it takes to lead all of Konoha and be the greatest Hokage ever. This mission means everything to me. I came to you for support."

"I can't! I won't support you on this! It's too dangerous! If I have to stop you by force I will!"

"How can you say that, and claim to love me at the same time?"

"I'm protecting you." Sakura finally stopped screaming and started talking to him. Naruto knew that meant she was serious. Maybe she was protecting him. But it was too late for that. Four years too late.

"You never tried to protect me before. Why now?" Naruto started to let tears come to his eyes. But like everything else said in the past few minutes, they were fake.

"If you really loved me, you'd understand that this is my only chance to shine. I can't let this opportunity go or I'll never see another chance to grasp everything I've ever wanted. What's so hard to understand about that? I've always been true to my word Sakura-chan. That's my way of the ninja. I promise you I'll come back alive."

Sakura's tears came back. This time, much faster and stronger.

"Naruto, you'll be the first one they kill." Naruto pretended to be confused. He let go of her hands at this point.

"What?"

"Naruto, they promised me."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"They always said, 'Sasuke says hello', 'Sasuke sends his regards', 'Sasuke sends his love', 'Sasuke says thank you for helping us'."

"Sasuke? Who said that?"

"I'm so sorry. I should've told you."

"Told me what? What's going on?" Naruto grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look at him since she had hung her head to avoid eye contact. He needed to keep eye contact with her at all costs. He needed to see if she was telling the truth.

"Ejiki and Giseisha. They promised me that if I helped them, they would make sure Orochimaru wouldn't hurt Sasuke." Naruto attempted to not believe it.

"That's silly. How could they say something like that? They're Konoha Anbu."

"No. They're Otogakure shinobi."

Naruto put his hand over his mouth and sat back in the chair instead of leaning forward to seem more personal. He started to run his hands through his hair and pretended to be frustrated and surprised.

"I'm so sorry, I never..."

She was interrupted when Shikamaru, Neji, Arate, and Shizune opened the door and walked through. Naruto didn't look up. He kept his face buried in his hands. Sakura looked up at them, horrified. Neji walked over and grabbed her by the arm and gently pulled her to stand up while Shizune tied her hands behind her with chakra strings. Arate then put his hand on Naruto's shoulder as Naruto pulled the file he hid in his jacket out and handed it to him.

Nobody said a word as they walked Sakura out of the room and escorted her to Godaime's office where they would fill her in for Naruto as he had something else to take care of. Arate handed Naruto a key when he took the file from him. Naruto knew exactly what the key was for, but needed a moment to compose himself before he continued.

After a few minutes of being alone and thinking about nothing, he got up and punched the first thing he saw. The desk Sakura was working at. The wood splintered and collapsed under his fist. It wasn't enough. He took another swing at the wall behind the desk. Solid metal framing, but Naruto's fist dented it deeply without a scratch on his kunckles. He swore to himself that he wouldn't scream, not over this. This was just his mission. Naruto learned the hard way that putting your emotions into a mission were dangerous physically and psycologically. He knew what he had to do now, so as he concluded earlier, the sooner the better.

He opened the window of the room and jumped out onto the next building back toward Anbu Headquarters. So much for having Shikamaru and Neji help him interrogate Ejiki and Giseisha. He would leave Sakura's punishment to Tsunade, and told himself that he wouldn't think about that when he was torturing the other two. Not interrogate. He would torture every word out of them. Whatever they told Orochimaru. Who they were reporting to. Then Konoha no Akuma no Ketsueki would kill them. They were disguised as Anbu, and had probably already leaked out enough information to Orochimaru. Whatever they'd planned to tell him or some other messenger since they were taken captive, would remain a secret.

When he arrived, he went immediately to the Interrogation Squad holding room and the desk worker attempted to stop him. Without even listening to his protests, Naruto pushed him aside and went through the door with the key Arate handed him, and locked it behind him. The so-called Ejiki and Giseisha were there.

"Naruto-san. What's been going on? Why are we being held here?" Giseisha asked and sounded genuinely curious. Naruto hadn't turned away from the door since he locked it. He could hear several people on the other side attempting to open it. He could faintly hear them screaming at each other, wondering where the key for the door was, and how he got it. Arate must've snuck here and picked it up while Naruto was in the hospital.

While Naruto's back was turned, Giseisha had advanced on him, and was now right behind him. He was still asking why they were here. Naruto snapped himself around and grabbed him by the face. His hand tightly grabbed the skin over his face and squeezed. Naruto allowed some of Kyuubi's chakra to make his fingernails morph into sharp claws as he dug them into Giseisha's face. Giseisha's screams of pain were muffled under Naruto's palm, but he made sure that he wasn't suffocating him. Ejiki eventually grabbed Naruto's arm and attempted to stop him but with Kyuubi's chakra, there was no making Naruto let go. Naruto then felt it. He squeezed hard enough and broke through the barrier of chakra that was keeping Giseisha's jutsu active. Once Naruto felt the difference in chakra he stopped squeezing tighter and ripped a layer of skin from his face.

Instead of seeing blotches of blood seeping through the exposed epidermis, he saw another face underneath the one he just ripped off. Giseisha, finally out of Naruto's grasp fell to the ground and scooted away from him, with tiny trails of blood down his face and neck where Naruto's claws had punctured his own skin. Ejiki was on the other side of the room, cowering in the same manner. They didn't even figure that they had been discovered. They thought perhaps they were followed back to Konoha from their last mission and needed to be hidden.

"Just as Sakura said." Was all Naruto said.

"We knew she couldn't be completely trusted." Naruto turned and pointed to Ejiki.

"Watch closely." Naruto advanced on Giseisha and forced him on his feet. He then grabbed his arm forcefully and bent it the wrong way. Giseisha knew better than to struggle but was already clenching his teeth and groaning loudly. Naruto then brought his own elbow down on Giseisha's elbow and the screams were still not enough to drown out the cracking of the bone breaking. As Giseisha was kneeling over in pain, Naruto brought his palm up, smashing his nose flat and breaking his cheek bones. Without giving him any time to dawn on his pain, Naruto pulled out a kunai and stabbed him in the chest. Not deep enough to hit any vital organs or kill, but enough to pass the rib cage, where Naruto then hooked upward and pulled several of his ribs out of place. Before Giseisha could fall, Naruto then grabbed his leg, opposite his broken ribs and pounded down on the side of his kneecap.

Ejiki watched everything completely horrifired, until Giseisha finally stopped screaming and squirming. Bloodloss. Naruto then turned to Ejiki after confirming that Giseisha was indeed dead, and advanced to him.

"Undo the jutsu." Naruto said quietly, but firmly. There was no way that he could be mistaken for kidding and he wasn't. Ejiki did as he was ordered and stood before Naruto in his natural form. Naruto then pointed back at the bloody pile of flesh and bone that was once his comrad.

"That is what will happen to you, and worse if you don't answer every single question I ask you truthfully. And don't lie to me, I'm a fox, my hearing can tell if you're lying or not." Naruto exaggerated his ability to sense lies, but it seemed to scare the Sound ninja into agreeing to cooperate.

"You joined our Anbu squad during the attack four years ago on the Chuunin Exams, correct?"

"Yes."

"Your mission details?"

"Rely information about Konoha's secret movement to our superior."

"Who is your superior?"

"I don't know. He always wore a concealing cloak."

"What was Haruno Sakura's purpose."

"Personal medical assistance. If any other doctor reviewed us after missions, they would find out immediately about our jutsu to stay in disguise."

"Why her?"

"She was recommended by the man we gave our reports to. He said that she would cooperate."

"Where would you meet him? And when is your next scheduled meeting?"

"Seventeen kilometers northeast of Konoha in an abandoned field. Our next meeting is scheduled for this coming Thursday morning at four."

"Thanks."

With that Naruto lifted him by the neck and sent Kyuubi's red chakra through his arm and into Ejiki's body. If Naruto let too much of Kyuubi's chakra out, it hurt even him, but to a foreign body, not used to the chakra, it burned like fire. Naruto just held the Sound Ninja up and waited for the chakra to burn him from the inside, or until he simply fell apart.

The meeting with their superior, who Naruto knew exactly who it was, was on Thursday.

Today is Monday.


	10. Friend

Well, I suppose it's about freakin time I updated. I had about 3/4 of this written for the longest time, got stuck, and stopped. In that time I wrote numerous DBZ and Phoenix Wright fics. Phoenix Wright is awesome. And hot.

* * *

Naruto exited the room and handed the key back to the numerous ninja attempting to open the doors. Naruto walked straight to Tsunade's office to report his findings to her, or most of them anyway. He hoped that he took long enough so that Sakura wouldn't still be there, but luck wasn't in Naruto's favor today. Arate was waiting outside the office door to ward off anyone who tried to go inside.

"Sakura won't say a word to us Naruto-san. Neji said that he saw everything through the walls with his Byakugan." Arate said quietly as Naruto nodded to him that he understood.

He walked in to Tsunade flipping through the file that Naruto had handed to Arate. From the look on her face, she had seen all the evidence but needed a confession from Sakura. Figures, now she shuts her mouth.

"Excuse me for interrupting. I have a report." Tsunade shot Naruto a look that said that she was disappointed that he would do this. At this point, Naruto wasn't about to discuss his course of action and didn't care enough either way. It's not over until it's over.

"I've received a verbal confession from the two Sound spies. The information gathered from Hangyakusha Uragiri was indeed accurate. They were using the same jutsu that Orochimaru uses to diguise himself by creating a false skin over him using the chakra of the person he's immitating to hide his essence. They confirmed that Haruno Sakura was recommended as their personal medic to conceal any secret of their true selves."

"Recommended by whom?" Tsunade asked immediately.

"By the man they reported to. But they claimed that they didn't know who he was. They said whenever they would meet with him, he would hide his face."

"Sounds like Orochimaru really thought this through. He wanted to make sure his spies only had indirect contact, in case we caught on. That person probably reports back to several others before the information gets to Orochimaru." Tsunade closed the file and stood up. Shikamaru then drew his own conclusions.

"We can assume then that if this 'superior' of theirs knew of Sakura and her talents, then he must know her, or is possibly in the village as well." Shikamaru made sense to Tsuande.

"Naruto? Do you have any leads?"

"I don't think we need to worry anymore, since no more of our information can leak out through them, but I'm willing to bet Yakushi Kabuto. During our first attempt at the Chuunin exams, he directly assisted our team in completing the second trial in the Forest of Death. He was there to gather information on Konoha ninja for Orochimaru. Though I'm certain his main concern was assessing Uchiha Sasuke, he gathered information about us as well." Tsunade couldn't deny the truth, but something didn't add up.

"Naruto, that was before Godaime even became the Hokage of this village and before Sakura had any training in medical ninjutsu. How would he know that she's a medic now?" Neji always asked the hardest questions to answer, but Naruto had already thought this through.

"Kabuto is a medic as well. As he gathered information on us using other Sound ninja as bait, Sakura displayed her extraordinary ability in chakra channeling, control and application. He could see that her abilites would take her far as a medic, and he also knew of how to manipulate her." Tsunade and Neji both nodded, satisfied with Naruto's explanation. Naruto sighed, wondering how he thought of all that and convinced them all. Tsunade then stood up straight and looked directly at Sakura.

"What do you have to say for yourself, Sakura?"

"Somebody once told me that those who break the rules are trash, but those who don't care for their friends are even worse trash."

"Sakura, there's a difference between helping those who need you, and helping a traitor who's assisting our enemies. From participating in all this, you're no better than them. You've deceived your village for the sake of a fugitive traitor and your actions will be cause for severe punishment. Neji, Shikamaru, Shizune. Escort her to a holding cell while I discuss her punishment with the counsil. Naruto, you stay here."

Neji and Shikamaru grabbed Sakura gently by the shoulders and walked her out of the room. Shizune followed behind. Standard escort procedure. Her hands were still bound, and in case she attempted to attack Neji or Shikamaru, Shizune would be there to stop her from the rear to attack her pressure point from behind and knock her out. As they left the room, Tsunade motioned to Arate to follow them. Naruto stayed where he was.

"Lock the door." Tsunade commanded as Naruto let out a breath and locked the door behind them all and came back to stand in front of her on the other side of her desk.

"I'm surprised at you, Naruto. Sakura quoted Kakashi just now."

"Are you suggesting that Kakashi-sensei would've been O.K. with the reasoning behind what she's done?"

"No. I'm suggesting that he would've been more sympathetic towards why she did it, but not agreed with what she has done. He would've tried harder to understand."

"So a traitor with good intentions isn't still a traitor then? Is that what you're saying?"

"No. A traitor is a traitor regardless of their motives, but Naruto, she'll probably never forgive you for this."

"I'm prepared for that. She knows that my ultimate goal is Hokage. The Hokage wouldn't watch his allies betray his family."

"The Hokage doesn't cast his friends aside!" Tsunade practically yelled, getting tired of him having the last word to everything she said.

"The Hokage knows who he can and cannot depend on!" Naruto yelled back, slamming his hands on her desk and kneeling down to get in her face. He calmed himself a bit before he continued.

"Sandaime cast Orochimaru away regardless of his feelings for his former student. But he did what needed to be done for the good of the village. Do you disagree that what you're doing right now to Sakura is no different?"

Tsunade didn't answer, but stared at him with a stern look in her eye. She was angry that he had compared Sakura to Orochimaru, and herself to Sandaime.

"I request no further missions for the rest of this week to fully recover from the poison."

"You can have whatever you want, just get out of my sight." Tsunade remained calm as she dismissed him, which surprised Naruto, but he simply nodded, bowed and walked out the door.

Once he was out of the Hokage's office, he didn't know where to go next. He could go home, and actually rest, but too much was on his mind now to sleep. He couldn't believe that he convinced them all with just common sense. He figured at least Neji would've caught on. Naruto supposedly, was a master of fooling Byakugan at this point. Had he done the right thing by not revealing to them what he truly had in mind? He still didn't know for sure if right and wrong was the proper criteria to base his decision on, so he simply continued walking, oblivious to where he was going until he actually got there.

One person who, at one time, was more confused than any he had ever known. Another person he managed to verbally beat sense into. Konoha's artist shinobi. Sai. Perhaps he did know where he was going, but came here on instinct. Naruto knocked on the door softly and listened carefully for shuffling behind the door. He had no way of telling if Sai was home either way. But he figured if anybody was able to set feelings aside and carry out his duty, it was him.

Sai had set aside his duty as a shinobi for a personal goal once, however, it was for the sake of another. For Naruto's sake. Naruto wasn't sure if Sai had made a smart decision, or if he was blinded by obligation. Perhaps he should've killed Sasuke that day, if he could. He and Naruto would probably not care for each other at this point if he had, but he always did hear adults say, "you'll thank me someday".

Sure enough, while Naruto was in thought about his friend, Sai had peeped through a tiny hole in the door and confirmed the identity of his visitor. He opened the door and greeted Naruto with a warm smile. The same smile he always had plastered on his face, but instead of it being a fake, emotionless grin, it was real. Real smiles were somewhat new to Sai, but he was getting better, as was his socializing skills. Naruto had to smile back, as this was his first time feeling happy in the last few days. Thinking back on meeting Sai, learning to get along with him, and all else they had learned from each other made him momentarily forget what had just happened.

"Good evening, Naruto. Please come in." Naruto laughed as he kicked off his shoes and set them on the mat inside.

"You know, nobody says "good evening". It's for geezers. Just say hi." Naruto informed Sai with a small laugh.

"I suppose you can't learn everything from books, then." Sai answered with a slight blush.

"Sure you can. Everything but slang."

Sai and Naruto shared a few more laughs as they sat at Sai's table and sipped at tea. Most of them were tales of various missions that were too difficult for Genin and Chuunin, but too easy for Jounin. Escorting mimes so they wouldn't be spit on was one of Naruto's chronicles that Sai found amusing. This continued until there was a silence between them. It was the silence Naruto was waiting for, but not anticipating.

"So, you heard, didn't you? Naruto said after a few seconds.

"About your most recent mission? I don't know about it in detail."

"To make a long story short, Orochimaru had spies stationed in the village and Sakura knew about them." Sai didn't seem phased by that, until he sighed loudly and shut his eyes, obviously to prevent from showing any emotion.

"Is that so? What a shame."

"They were using Sasuke to manipulate her, but I was disappointed she didn't do something about it sooner. She was the only person who knew."

"For a shinobi with a strong mind like her, it's a surprise they could do that so easily."

"Sai, she had a choice between the man of her dreams and her village."

"I suppose what the books say about a woman's heart are true then." Naruto felt he was ready to tell Sai.

"I found out, and turned her in." Naruto looked Sai in the eyes to see what he was thinking it before he spoke.

"I learned through Anbu that once you make a decision, don't think back on it. Just keep going that way. You chose that path, so continue. Don't backtrack to correct anything, or you'll just lose time. What's done is done." Sai finally said. Naruto learned the same thing through Anbu, but didn't find his advice to be helpful at all. Sai continued before Naruto could comment.

"Naruto, what you taught me years ago was the difference between a friend and an alliance. A comrade is somebody you're obligated to protect by common cause, but a friend is somebody that you would protect by any means necessary, no matter what. However, your problem and Sakura's problem seem to be the ability to distinguish a friend, from an alliance." Sai stopped and let this sink in.

"I'm listening."

"Friends come and go, Naruto. They move on, people grow apart, go their own ways. And that's just what happened. I admit you've probably had a better grasp of this than Sakura did. She thinks of Sasuke every moment of every day since his departure. If I remember correctly, you enlisted in Anbu for Sakura's sake, a promise you made to her to bring him back to the village, yes? You figured meeting with Sasuke would be more likely if you were a hunter nin, but did you really think of him every day while in Anbu?"

"Honestly. No, I didn't. Mostly, the mission at hand was my top priority."

"As it should be. Sasuke made his own choice. Sakura can make excuses for him all she wants, but that doesn't change the facts. Thinking back on your last encounter with him, would you really call his treatment of you that of a friend?"

"Do I really have to answer that?"

"It doesn't matter. He might've been a friend a long time ago, but now he's not even an alliance. He's a foe. But from what I've heard about him from others that knew him, he was always more concerned with his own motives than anything." Before Sai could continue, Naruto continued for him.

"Figures. The only time Sasuke ever did something for me, he said he didn't know why he did it. He said his body just moved. That was the same day that I was told that there were two types of shinobi. Users, and tools. I suppose in Sasuke's eyes, we were a temporary way of making him stronger. When a more convenient source came around, he deserted us."

"Which are you, Naruto? A user, or a tool?" Naruto didn't even need a moment to think, he answered immediately.

"A tool. I serve my village. Nothing else matters."

"Sakura is a tool as well, but not a tool at the disposal of her village."

Naruto knew what Sai was getting at. He really didn't want to hear anymore.

"I know what I have to do Sai, but I don't know if what I plan to do is right." Sai let out a short breath.

"I have to ask, Naruto. Are you sure it's him?" Any sign of understanding left Sai.

"Yes. Without a doubt." Again, without having to think of a response. He didn't need to know who Sai was talking about either. It was eminent.

"How can you be so sure?"

"He only thinks about one person. And that person's mission is me."

"So he stationed himself close to the village so he could wait for him to come after you again?" Naruto nodded.

"What are you going to do?"

"First talk, then decide what to do depending on how he answers."

"And if he refuses to talk?"

"Like I said, I'll decide then." Naruto still didn't know if his plan was smart, and hated having Sai ask so many questions he couldn't answer.

"Will you go alone?" Sai asked with a worried tone behind his voice.

"It's not what you think. It's not personal this time. It's duty." Sai seemed comforted by Naruto's answer.

"Good luck then. Take this with you." Sai took out a scroll and quickly wrote the word 'friend' in kanji and handed it to him.

"Thanks."

* * *

Well, that all for now. Phoenix Wright is awesome. And hot. 


End file.
